What If
by Only-A-Minor-Threat
Summary: What if the wall didn't kill Fred instantly? It did irreversible damage, yes, but what if he had time? Days, weeks, months. What would his last thoughts be to everyone, what would everyone else's thoughts be to him?
1. Prologue

**What If**

(A/N: Hey all, I'm back for my second attempt at a Harry Potter fic :o I know, it's horrible, and you are all probably clicking out of this right now. Haha yeah.

Anybays, This fic was a snazzy little idea I had after watching the last episode of Dawson's' Creek, where Jen's system was slowly shutting itself down and she had a few weeks to say goodbye to everyone else and they had time to say goodbye to her. I hope nobody in the middle of Dawson's Creek is reading this, cause they're all going to team up to kill me.

This is my first Harry Potter fic that have characters in it other than Fred, George and Percy. It's my first attempt at writing Mr. And Mrs. Weasley and the rest of their family plus Harry and Hermione. If anybody's out of character then let me know, I'll accept criticism easily. If something is unrealistic or it just plain SUCKS, let me know and I'll fix it. So, read and enjoy, and hopefully it'll be somewhat bearable to get through.)

"Get down!"

Harry pushed Ron and Hermione to the ground as the wall behind them was blown into a thousand pieces, and they felt bits of wall and wreckage skim their hair lightly as it came from every which direction.

He breathed a sigh of relief as he noticed Percy and Fred crouching down beside them, looking shaken yet unharmed.

"How the hell..." Percy started, white as a ghost. He shook his head lightly and stared at the wreckage, looking for signs of any more Death Eaters. "Well, I think they're gone."

They all stood up wordlessly, brushing off their clothes, Fred doing so almost nonchalantly.

"Anyways, Perce, before we were almost blown to smithereens, I could've _sworn_ I heard you crack a joke. Where's the book of world records when you need it, eh?"

Percy smiled at him, looking jokingly ashamed of himself.

"Well, I thought we were going to be--"

The air exploded.

Harry, once again, threw himself down while grabbing his two best friends in the process. He lay himself flat against the ground, his eyes closed painfully tight, and prayed to Merlin that everyone else was alright.

The force of the explosion knocked Percy off his feet and slammed him into a nearby wall, his head cracking painfully against the stone surface. His vision swimming and his head throbbing, he had to close his eyes and rest there for a second before he could collect himself and see clearly again.

Opening his eyes, he was met with a sight he was sure he would never be able to forget for the rest of his life.

The rest of the wall that wasn't destroyed tittered dangerously on it's own, creaking threateningly. He saw Fred, who was on his back and his wand was lying at least five feet away from him.

Groaning, Fred opened his eyes just in time to see the wall sway one last time, before it fell forward.

To Percy, it felt like years as the wall fell. It was like everything was happening in slow motion, and surely Percy could do _something_, and yet he couldn't move.

He was frozen, his head still throbbing madly, and the wind was still knocked out of him. He watched almost helplessly as Fred put up his arms, trying to soften the blow as the large wall collapsed on him with a sickening _crunch_.

"_Reducto!"_

Percy had to throw himself to the ground and put his arms over his head as the wall exploded, sending chunks of stone flying everywhere. He felt his cheek start to bleed as a rather sharp piece of rock grazed him.

Looking up, Percy saw Bill Weasley running towards them, his wand stretched out in front of him. His scarred face brightened with pure fear, Bill fell down beside Fred, staring at him with disbelief.

Percy vaguely heard Hermione screaming somewhere behind him, yet it seemed so far away. He saw Ron and Harry get up and walk over to have a closer look, but he didn't even acknowledge them.

"Is he..." Ron started shakily, with a terrified look at Fred.

"No," Bill said calmly, his fingers poised at Fred's throat, "There's a pulse, but it's light."

Percy head this, but barely. He was staring at Fred's face, which was cut, bruised and covered with blood. He looked down at his chest and noticed that his robes were drenched with a dark, red liquid.

"Bill!" Percy yelled, pointing out the injuries to him.

"Oh, god." Bill whispered, his face going noticeably white under the streaks of dirt.

"I don't know how we're going to do this, but we need to get him to St.Mungo's, _now._"

Bill stood up and everyone backed away from Fred. Hermione had her hands clapped to her mouth, her eyes wide. Harry and Ron looked almost disbelieving as they watched Bill scoop up his younger brother into his arms, his head lolling from side to side. He took off down the corridor, everyone moving to follow him quickly.

Stopping at the doors to the Great Hall, Bill rammed his shoulder into the door, avoiding doing more damage to Fred than there was already done. His eyes sought out his parents and found them almost immediately.

Bill ran over to them, carefully balancing Fred in his arms.

Molly Weasley shrieked loudly as she spotted her two sons, both covered in Fred's blood. Bill's face was white and splattered with blood, yet Fred's injuries were more striking and noticeable, since there were green and black and blue bruises all over his face, and scratches from his forehead to his chin. She also spotted the blood seeping through his robes.

"Merlin, no, please no," Molly sobbed desperately, her fingers running through Fred's hair and touching his face, "What happened to my baby?" She asked shakily, while Arthur calmly checked his wrist, throat and chest.

"Some Death Eaters blasted down a wall and it collapsed on him," Bill said in a wavering voice as his mother let out a low, dragged out moan, "I got there in time to blast it off of him, but it might've been too late, I don't know." He finished, looking at Fred's pale face.

"Well, he's still alive, but his pule is weak. If we don't get him to the hospital soon..." Arthur's face was stern, yet his cracking voice betrayed him.

Molly looked at her husband pleadingly.

"Please, Arthur, you have to go, you have to get him there." Her voice finally stopped shaking. (1)

"Molly," He started quietly, "What about you, what about everyone else? What if something else happens to my family when I leave?"

"Arthur," Molly said back, a look of determination on her face, a threatening look in her eyes, "I can take care of everyone. Nothing else is going to happen to any of my children, or so help me Merlin, there will be consequences." She said in a low voice that actually made her husband take a step back.

Arthur moved towards Bill and reached over, taking Fred's unconscious form into his arms and staring down at him with a devastated look on his face.

He moved over to Molly and kissed her quickly and fiercely, staring into her eyes. "I'm going to get off of Hogwart's grounds and apparate us both to St.Mungo's. If there's anyone that tries to stop me, Death Eaters and Aurors alike, it was not be a pretty sight." He growled in a non Mr. Weasley tone of voice, and he took off past the rest of the family with Fred in his arms.

It was two hours later, and Arthur Weasley found himself pacing the waiting room down the hall from where Fred was currently residing, which was a small, private room.

He felt torn between two situations; Staying here and waiting to find out the fate of his son, or hastily making his way back to Hogwart's to find out if the rest of his family was injured.

Had Harry been able to defeat Voldemort? Or had Harry actually been murdered in the process? Harry was as good as a son to him, and Arthur worried about him just as much as the rest of his family.

He felt a sharp pain in his chest at the sudden thought that maybe he'd never see one of them again. Would he actually ever see Fred again?

He barely remembered how he and Fred were able to get to St.Mungo's in one piece. He remembered running. Oh, so much running. He was vaguely surprised at meeting no obstacles on his journey; most of the Death Eaters had been in the forest with their master.

He remembered getting to Hogsmeade quickly and apparating him and his son safely to St.Mungo's without painful splinching. He remembered the Healer's coming quickly to shift his bloodied son out of his arms and run him into the empty room in the emergency ward.

He hadn't seen his son after that and he hadn't heard any news on Fred's condition. He could be dead, for all Arthur knew, and that made breathing hard to do for a few minutes.

"Arthur! Oh, god, Arthur!"

Turning around sharply, he barely had time to react before his wife threw herself into his arms.

He hugged her shaking form tightly, and looked over her shoulder at the rest of his family coming toward them quickly. People in the waiting room were turning to look at them and were whispering to their neighbors. Arthur realized they must look pretty silly; sobbing and covered from head to toe in dirt and ruins.

"You-Know-Who is dead, Arthur! Harry defeated him." Molly said all in one breath, turning to give Harry a shaky smile. Arthur only then noticed Harry, and leaned forward to capture Harry's hand in his own.

"Oh, heck, what am I doing?" Arthur said exasperatedly, throwing his arms around the teenage boy.

Harry looked taken aback for a second, then smiled lightly and hugged him back. "Thanks, Mr. Weasley" He said quietly.

Arthur pulled back, smiling back at him, then turned quickly to his family. Counting all six of his other children to himself, he let out a sigh of relief and moved to give them all comforting hugs.

Bill and Charlie both smiled weakly and clapped their dad lightly on the shoulder. Everyone else was looking severely shaken, especially Ginny, who had tears quietly falling down her face and was clutching George's hand tightly in her own.

George, Arthur noticed, was whiter than anyone else. He had his face set and his lips were white as he pursed them. "Dad," he spoked quietly, his voice almost unrecognizable as he asked the question they were all wondering themselves, "How is he? Is he..."

Arthur shook his head slightly. "I don't know, George." He said, his voice breaking. "I haven't heard anything yet."

Just then, a young woman was walking down to hall to come meet them. She had curly brown that fell to her shoulders, and she had a pretty, kind face. The name tag clipped below her collar on her uniform read "Mary".

All the Weasley's turned to her quickly, and they all looked terrified.

"Hello," Mary said pleasantly, shaking Arthur's hand as Molly stared at her with pleading eyes, "I'm Healer Marshall and I'll be taking care of your son." She said with a nod of her head to Molly and Arthur.

George let out a shaky breath as she continued, "I'm guess you all are wondering about the condition he's in." It wasn't really a question. (2) It took all the willpower every single one of them had not to cry as she looked at them with a sad gaze.

"That wall broke a lot of your son's bones, I'm afraid. His nose was broken, one of his cheek bones, four ribs, his right arm and his right leg. His right arm took the blow when he tried to brace himself, so it was the most damaged."

Molly let out a low groan of despair at these words. "Luckily, you brought him here in time for us to be able to mend his bones. This is the good news." Mary added, her voice unwavering yet her sad eyes betrayed her.

"I'm afraid the wall did irreversible damage to your sons system. We were able to mend his bones, yet we can do nothing for his organs. His heart is slowly failing, and his kidneys. There was a lot of internal bleeding. While we were able to put that right, it does seem that his system is slowly shutting itself down. It also seems that this process is going slower than it would for most people, muggles, of course, who would actually die after a few hours. With Fred, we're not sure. It could be hours, days, weeks, or even years. We don't know." She said slowly, meeting all of their eyes and frowning.

Nobody did anything. None of them said a word. The shock hadn't yet set in, but they were all looking at Healer Marshall as if they were seeing her for the first time, all of their faces as pale as the light reflecting off of them.

"I'm so sorry," Marshall said, her eyes sad and serious, "There is nothing we can do to save your son."

The first one to snap out of their reverie was Ginny. She began to sob into her hands, her face not visible, and Molly moved to hold her, breaking down also. Everyone else looked shocked, still looking at Healer Marshall disbelievingly.

George swallowed hard, staring at his brothers doctor. "So it is definitely...terminal, then." He said in a low, smooth tone.

Mary only made the slightest movement of her head to signify a nod at George, and turned to look at the stunned Mr. Weasley and the rest of his family.

"It's lucky that your one son was able to blast the wall off of Fred in time." She said, nodding in Bill's direction, who was pale. "Otherwise, he would've been killed instantly."

"Ah, is that right." George said in a cold, unlikely voice. "He just...prolonged the inevitable, let's say." (3)

Bill bit his lip, and turned away to stare at the floor, not meeting George's piercing gaze.

"Well, then," Mrs. Marshall said in an uncertain voice as she looked between Bill and George, "He's asleep, but you are all more than welcome to come and visit him." She said, giving a sad smile to the two women, who were still crying softly.

"His room is just down the hall here. Follow me." She moved down the corridor and the Weasley's followed her quietly, minus the sound of Mrs. Weasley blowing her nose after she found a tissue.

Behind Ron followed Harry and Hermione, of who were both looking tearful and helpless. Hermione made a move to put her arm around Ron, but he moved hastily out of her way, his face set in a determination not to cry or even show emotion at all.

George arrived at the door first, and stopped suddenly, pausing hesitantly to look into the room. The door had a glass window in it, and George had a perfect view of his twin brother. It made him stop dead and he felt his heart sink at the sight of him.

Fred's face was still battered and bruised, yet the blood and the scratches were gone completely. George could see row after row of thick white bandages on Fred's chest and stomach underneath the St.Mungo's robe. They looked oddly pink against Fred's even whiter skin, which was showing.

George stared at the sight of him disbelievingly. Was that really _Fred_ in there, looking so weak and so helpless as he slept on, ignorant to the fact that he was slowly dying? What would he do when he was told, who would tell him exactly, and how much time did he have left?

George willed himself not to let the tears fall, the tears that were gathering quickly on top of his eyelid and lashes. He blinked hastily and smoothly, before drawing a deep breath.

Feeling the stares of his family, he grabbed the door knob, slowly opened the door...And he walked in.

A/N: TBC...?? Do you want it to be continued? Cause I won't write any more chapters if you think it sucks, just let me know, you the readers, if you want more.

Does anyone think this is unrealistic? That Arthur would leave his family to take Fred to the hospital? I tried to make him a little hesitant, yet super worried about Fred and his fate. I don't know if anyone thinks this is stupid, or Arthur wouldn't do something like this, I've never written Arthur so I have no clue. Let me know.

No sht, sherlock. --

I know George is really OOC here, and sorry if anyone doesn't like the way he's acting, but I think he would be bitter and resentful here, since Bill did something for Fred while George was able to do nothing, yet it still didn't help since Fred is still going to die anyway. I know it wasn't Bill's fault, yes, and it definitely wasn't George's either, but he has to deal with the pain somehow and he's going to deal with it by being stupid lol.

Anybays, I hoped you all liked the first chapter! I plan on writing more, so if you want me to, let me know. _WIZARD! _Lol, I love that Alltel commercial xD

Lol, On Conan O' Brien, He does monologues where he tells about a news story then makes a joke, and today he goes "A guy in Florida by the name of Harry Potter, yes his name really is Harry Potter, says he's been getting a lot of prank phone calls lately. Potter says he suspects the calls are coming from his neighbor down the street, Joey Voldemort." It was sooo stupid, but that made it funny.

'Till next time! TBC!


	2. Say Goodnight and Go

((A/N: Hey, muh peoples!! I'm back for my second chappie, I hope it's alright. Actually, I'm pretty sure it's down right HORRIBLE. I wrote it very quickly today, typed it up very quickly, so there might be a ton of things wrong with it. You might be cringing as you read, saying "Omg he'd never say that!" or "Why can't she spell correctly, why does her grammar totally SUCK!" Most likely. But please go easy on me I'm very fragile.

Also, the Healer appears in this chapter a lot and she might seem like she's going to play a big role, but she's not going to. I've actually kind of been having writers block which is pathetic for only the 2nd chapter, but all the ideas I've got are for LATER chapters, the earlier chapters are kind of jumbled and scrambled and all over the place. I kinda just threw the healer in this chapter to waste time and fill up space. That's probably not what a good writer does, but I'm not a good writer so hey!

And, does anybody here go on Mugglenet? Well, I just had a thought (that's rare for me!) and do you know how they always update their site with a happy birthday to the characters? Like last year they had "Happy birthday, Arthur Weasley!" and "Happy Birthday, Rubeus Hagrid!" Yeah? Well I'm going to BAWL in April when they post a message saying "Happy Birthday, George Weasley!" Isn't that so wrong? To see his name by itself? I know that he is his own person and blawdy blawdy blah, but I'm going to cry when it's just his name on April 1st. Not cool.

And!!! You might want to skip the author's note at the end. I'm just ranting at how much I hate David Yates and how the future HP movies are going to suck because of him.

Read and enjoy!))

What if: Day 1

George was holding his breath; his heart was beating out of his chest as he stared down into Fred's pale face. He could hear his family shuffling into the room behind him but he paid them no mind.

How could he have let this happen? He was the one who suggested that they split up, that Fred needed to go with Percy and George with Lee. Maybe if they would've gone together, George could've prevented this.

"George," He heard Harry's shaky voice coming from his right, a hand on his shoulder, "I know what you're thinking. There's no way you could've done anything to stop this, so stop blaming yourself. Ron, Hermione and I were there and there was no possible way that we could've done anything, nor Percy." George could see Percy shaking out of the corner of his eye.

"But we still should have _tried._" Harry went on, his voice more noticeably shaky now. "If anyone should've done something, it was me. If you want to blame someone, blame me." He finished with a hint of anger in his voice.

George couldn't tell if Harry was angry at himself, or at George.

"Don't be thick," George said quietly, his eyes never leaving his twin's face, "I don't think he wants any of us to blame anybody, it wasn't our fault."

Nobody spoke a word after this. All was silent in the small room except the sound of Fred's quiet breathing, the whole family watching the rise and fall of his chest.

A few more painful minutes of this was all anyone could bear, and they all collapsed into chairs on the left side of the room. Molly had her face in her hands and her shoulders were shaking. Arthur instantly put an arm around her, his gaze on his son.

Everyone else looked pasty and sick, not saying a word to each other.

George didn't know how long he stood there. He didn't move from the side of the bed; he felt that if he made a sound or moved an inch he would lose Fred forever.

Two hours slowly passed by before Arthur stood up rather abruptly and cleared his throat loudly. Everyone jumped and turned to look his way.

"I think...I think t-that you should all go home and get some rest. I'm sure Healer Marshall will alert us right away if he wakes up or there's a change." He looked reluctant to leave, as did everyone else, but slowly they all stood up and moved towards the door.

Standing in the doorway, Molly turned her tear-filled gaze to George, who hadn't moved from his spot at Fred's side.

"George," she said quietly, her voice strained, "Honey, are you coming?"

He shook his head wordlessly, not looking at her.

"I don't think so, Mum. I'd like to...to stay here. With him."

Molly smiled, one tear freely running down her face now.

"If you insist, sweetie. I want you to take it easy and rest, though. It won't help him get any better if you get yourself worked up over it. Do tell us if anything changes."

George nodded his head slowly and finally turned his gaze to look at her. "Will do, mum."

She smiled slightly once more, looked at her twins sons one last time, and slowly closed the door behind her with a soft _click_.

George didn't know how he did it, but soon enough he found himself lying sprawled in one of the chairs leaning against the chipping wall of the hospital room.

Groaning, he slowly opened one eye and peered out sleepily across the bright room. He sat up rather quickly, hoping to see any sort of reaction or gesture from Fred to signify that he was awake. Seeing his brother still sleeping the same way, although noticeably paler than last time, he sighed heavily and fell back against the chair with a small thud.

The shock of what was happening was still settling in. George hadn't quite come to terms with it yet; he was still lying to himself and telling himself that Fred was going to get better, that in time they'd be bringing him back home just like they did with Dad.

He hadn't cried yet, either. He wouldn't let himself. Was crying going to heal Fred? Was crying going to save his brother from his fate? He was so _young_, although not so innocent. He didn't see how this was fair, how it was possibly Fred's time to go this early in life.

George didn't know how long he was brooding over this before he heard the door open with a creak.

Turning to look, he wasn't surprised to see Healer Marshall walking back into the room, with a less than happy look on her face.

She looked at him and was able to manage a small, sincere smile. "Hello...George, I presume?"

He didn't smile back, only nodded politely. "Hey, any more news?" He asked rather nonchalantly, even though it didn't fool either of them.

She looked between him and Fred rather quickly, expecting George not to notice. He did, though, and thought about how it probably shocked her for a minute at how alike they looked. Obviously, they were twins. It seemed so far from the truth at the moment; he didn't think he looked a thing like his brother then. Fred was so pale and so fragile looking, like he could break at any second. George's face was stony and unwavering, his gaze never leaving the doctors face.

"I'm sorry, George, but no. He hasn't changed and most likely won't any time soon, although he should wake up in no time." She replied, her eyes meeting his. She looked like she was refusing to back down.

"Why hasn't he, though?" George said, talking rather to himself than Healer Marshall. He turned away from her to look at Fred again and he felt way older than he was.

She only smiled sadly in response, still looking at him.

"I think you should leave, George. It seems that he won't be waking up for quite a while, maybe not until morning. You should probably go home and get some sleep."

'Home...' George thought rather bleakly. Where was home, anyway? The burrow, the flat above the joke shop, maybe. Right now, though, it seemed that his place was at Fred's side and no where else.

"Maybe it's a good idea." He sighed, wiping a palm over his sweaty forehead, his hair stuck to it stubbornly. He didn't want to leave, but if he was awake Fred would probably bully him into going home.

She moved over to help him out of the chair, since he was still rather tired, but he stood up himself, and didn't even smile in recognition. He wasn't going to show weakness if he could help it.

"Thank you," He said, feeling rather rude, "For...for all that you're doing for him. I know it can't be much, but for what it's worth, it's really great." He felt like hitting himself after he said this, it sounded so immature and stupid.

"It's not a problem, at all." She replied her voice, smile and eyes all sincere. "It's what I do, if you know what I mean. I'd like to help Fred, you and your family in any way that I can."

'Even if it's making his last days worth it.' He thought to himself, finishing the sentence for her.

Swallowing thickly and fast, he blinked back tears and shook her hand in a firm handshake, his eyes never leaving hers.

She just smiled response and shooed him out the door with almost a mother-like quality. For a second he had the urge to ask her if she had children of her own, and if seeing people sick and dying everyday made her worry about them more than anything else. Then he thought of his own mother and the pain she must be feeling. One of her kids was dying and there was nothing she could do to save him. Wasn't that her biggest fear?

"Go home now." Healer Marshall told him abruptly, smiling one last time before closing the door in his face.

George decided not to go back to the burrow where the rest of his family was currently residing. He didn't think he could face them all. He didn't think they could face him. Would they even be able to look at him now, since he looked so much like Fred, lying so frail-like in that stuffy room? He knew that once Fred woke up he would be dying to get out of there.

George laughed bitterly to himself at that one. _Dying_ to get out of there.

Before he knew what happened, he was leaning against the side of the joke shop, tears falling hard and fast down his cheeks. He was full out sobbing now, almost choking he was crying so hard. His vision was blurry and messed up, so he couldn't see anything but the fuzzy outline of the bright letters decorating the window of his shop.

It took him at least twenty minutes to will himself to stop crying. He wiped the trails of water and dirt from his face rather angrily; he was mad at himself for doing this. He needed to be strong. For both Fred and his family; they were counting on him now.

He couldn't remember how he had done it but before he knew it he was sitting on one of the twin beds up in the small flat that resided about their shop. The room seemed so dark and unfriendly all of the sudden, as if it was telling him he shouldn't be there.

His eyes were heavy and his body was screaming at him to sleep but he didn't think he had the energy to. It felt weird to him even as he thought about it. Honestly, who doesn't have the energy to _sleep_?

He felt like he had been sitting there for hours. He couldn't sleep and he wasn't feeling up to getting to the kitchen and eating something. At least that would be an opportunity to get his mind off of the situation but he didn't think he could do it. All he could do was stare at the bed next to his. The bed that should've been occupied by a certain Weasley.

Suddenly he was running; running away from the shop. He couldn't do this. He couldn't just go _home_ and get some _rest_ while his twin brother was in the hospital dying for fuck's sake. He couldn't just go on pretending like nothing was happening, something that was going to turn his whole world upside down.

Suddenly he was back in the main lobby of St.Mungo's, running through the halls where everyone was turning to look at him. He knew he must've looked really silly; his hair and clothes were disheveled and there were streaks of dirt and tears left on his puffy face.

Opening the door to Fred's room, he skidded in and halted to a stop right in front of the bed. Healer Marshall was still there and she turned to look at him with her wide, brown eyes.

"George? Didn't I say...?"

"I can't do it. I can't leave his side, not when he's like this. It doesn't seem right. It seems like I'm betraying him. I have to stay, please, let me stay."

He must've looked so pathetic; so worried. Finally, her hard frowning face softened. She looked at him like she would've looked at a son, with such worry and such compassion.

"All right, if you insist." She sighed heavily, giving him a jokingly exasperated smile. "I'll let you stay. Just _sleep_, please, will you?"

"Yes, definitely." He breathed out slowly, gasping for breath. He clutched the stitch in his side and smiled at her weakly.

They actually sat there and talked for about a half an hour. Afterwards, George was pretty sure he knew more about this woman than he did about most of his friends. She actually told him that, indeed, she had children, three to be exact. She told him how scary being a parent was and how she worried about them every single second of every single day. She told him how much compassion she felt for his mother, how sorry she was that Molly had to go through something like this. She said she didn't know how she was going to be able to do this, and George really didn't _want_ to be rude, but that was when he fell asleep.

Waking up, George had to shut his eyes quickly after opening them because he really didn't want to be blinded by the bloody sunlight poring in through the shades.

He sighed, his eyes still weighed down with tiredness. He was pretty sure that was only able to get four hours of sleep, maybe even less. He wasn't surprised to see that Healer Marshall left. She did have other patients, in fact. He was surprised, though, at the fact that there was a fluffy cotton blanket lying across his lap, even though it was rather scratchy. Ah, so this was why he hated hospitals.

He stared across the room at Fred, who was still bloody sleeping. It was always one of his favorite hobbies, sleeping was.

'It's what he's best at.' George thought, with an audible snigger.

Getting up quickly and stretching, he returned to Fred's bedside. On the contrary to what he was thinking last night, he was now pretty sure he looked like Fred. He didn't even have to look in the mirror to know he was looking as pathetic as his brother, with blue bags under his eyes and looking pale and weak.

He sighed softly and put his hand on Fred's chest, to make sure he could still feel a heartbeat. It was there, pulsing lightly under his hand, yet it was weak and slower than George's own, and that scared him.

What scared him more, though, happened next.

He felt the urge to scream loudly as Fred's hand suddenly shot up and came around his own, squeezing it tightly, his laughing eyes staring back at George.

((TBC...Of course. Cliffhanger, hahaha, you all hate me.

Wtf? His laughing eyes? Haha, does that even make sense?

Anyways. I HATE DAVID YATES!!!! HE SUCKS!!! He cut Fleur Delacour out of the 6th and 7th movie, there's no Bill or Charlie, there's no Gaunts or the Smith lady! Basically, the whole 6th movie is going to be a Lavender/Ron/Hermione love triangle!! Next thing you know, they're going to cut out Harry, Ron and Hermione! It's ridiculous! How are they going to explain the horcruxes without the Gaunts and Ms. Smith? It's soooo stupid! And Percy's also not in the 6th movie, which means there won't be a sweet scene where Fred, George and Ginny throw food at him, which I was so looking forward to. I really wanted to see who they'd cast for Bill, but noooo not anymore. That also means their wedding won't be in the 7th movie, which is totally stupid. How will they explain Gellert Grindlewald and Dumbledore's sister if there isn't a wedding, where that one woman tells Harry all about it? I bet you during Fred's death scene Percy won't be there, they'll probably cut him out of that too!

David Yates is definitely the worst choice for director yet. But I lost all my faith in the HP moves after seeing OoTP, which didn't follow the book at all. I LOVE the first 4 movies, but after that…Nope, sorry.

Anyway, enough ranting. Hopefully you liked this chapter, and the next will be posted ASAP.  Bye!))


	3. Love is not a victory march

((A/N: Hey hey hey! It's me again! …Wow, who am I, Fat Albert?

Anybays, I'm back for another exciting chapter….Yeah that's not fooling anyone. Lol

I'd like to take a moment, you guys, to appreciate you, the readers. These reviews and feedback have made me feel amazing, you guys, seriously. I get so excited every time I see a review alert in my inbox, and every time it's something good or someone says something nice it makes my day so much better and I get joyful ) but seriously, I love you guys, and you all make me want to write more and more and it just pulls me right along.

Also, a few more things. I've noticed that some people have my story on their alert lists but they haven't reviewed yet…Yeah, you guys know who you are. I mean, it's understandable if you're too busy to review or you don't have the time right away, but it would seriously be great if you guys reviewed thanks.

One more thing is that I don't think there are going to be pairings in this story. Okay, maybe a few. There might be a little Oliver/Alicia and a tiny tiny bit of George/Katie, and PAST mentions of Fred/Angelina, but they are currently not dating. I actually like Lee/Angelina, I just don't like her with either of the twins because she didn't really strike me as an…interesting person in the books…actually she was really boring, and I see Fred n George going out with someone super funny and someone who isn't quite like everyone else. So if you like Fred/Angelina or George/Angelina, sorry but it probably isn't going to happen. There's going to be a few chapters of the twins and friends, but mostly it's going to center around the family and how they're coping. Kapeesh? Lol

Onward!))

**What if: ****Day 2**

"MERLIN, FRED! WHAT THE HELL!" George jumped back slightly, and finally getting over his shock, glared at his brother fiercely.

"Whoa there, George, don't have a heart attack on me now." Fred grinned back at him, leaning against the headboard slightly.

George stared at him. "Did you…did you just wake up?"

Fred shrugged and looked around the room nonchalantly. "Nah, it's been like...10 minutes. I was waiting for you to get up, 'sleepy head.' You looked comfortable over there, Georgie. Some hot nurse tuck you in?" He asked, winking.

George gaped at him, and it felt like he was seeing Fred for the first time. How could he go from being so pale and weak, to bright and cheerful?

"Anyways, my lovely brother, how long have I been cooped up in this place?" Fred asked, looking at the cramped room in distaste.

"Um…Almost two days."

"Two days too many." Fred commented, looking at the vases of flowers on his bed side table with a grimace.

"Do you…remember what happened? At Hogwarts?" George asked carefully.

"Oh, yeah. One second Percy and I were laughing it up, the next a wall decides it wants to fall on me. I swear, George, the bloody wall came out of _nowhere._ It was plotting against me."

He then looked mock angry for a second. "Oh yeah, and you know how your life supposedly flashes before your eyes? Uh…yeah, _so_ didn't happen. Muggles lie, damnit."

George stared at him, taking him in, breathing a little heavily. "Why are you joking about that, Fred? This is serious." He said, realizing then how boring he must sound to Fred.

"Uh…yeah, why shouldn't I be joking about it? At least I'm alive. I feel fine, mate. I'd feel better though if I could get out of here." Fred said, now checking out the wall paper decorated with flowers lining the ceiling.

Just then the door opened.

"Oh! Mr. Weasley, you're awake." Healer Marshall said, walking in with an armful of blankets. "Why didn't you tell me, George?" She asked playfully, smiling.

Fred turned to stare at George with a look that said, 'this the nurse?' He was grinning slightly.

"Oh…um," George stuttered unattractively, "He hasn't been for long."

She was smiling as she set the blankets on a nearby table. "Well, this is great news, then. You should alert your family."

George nodded, looking at her apprehensively.

She turned her back to arrange the flowers in a careful manner, and Fred raised his eyebrows a few times at George suggestively.

When she turned to face them again, he was straight faced and giving her a look of mock attention.

"Well," She said evenly, glancing at George, "I'm wondering if you could give us a few minutes alone, please."

"Yeah…sure, fine." George said in a rushed manner, fear coming back to him. She was going to tell him. 'Merlin, this is getting more real by the second.' He thought, wishing it wasn't, wishing it was just a dream.

"I'll…go, then." He commented slowly, taking his time walking to the door. He didn't want to leave, yet he didn't want to hear it again either. It was so hard hearing it the first time he wasn't sure he could bear to take in the news again.

While opening the door, taking his time, he walked out but not before hearing Fred ask Healer Marshall, "I know what you want to tell me, I know, I know. You're the one who's going to be giving me sponge baths, right?"

George would've laughed if the situation wasn't so serious. Yet Fred didn't know how serious it was…until now.

Closing the door with a small click, George had to lean heavily against the hard wall or he probably would've fallen right over.

He turned back to look through the glass windows lining the door. He watched as Healer Marshall talked rather animatedly, with her hands moving, while Fred was watching her, nodding every now and then and also smiling sometimes. She paused, giving him a serious look, but Fred looked the same. He didn't look like a person who was just told that he was going to die.

She said something else to him, and he nodded, laughing. She laid a hand on his shoulder, removed it a few seconds later, and with a final nod, walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

George gave her a piercing look. "…Well?"

She sighed, looking in through the window at Fred, who was staring down at his hands, frowning.

"It seems he took it rather well, but I don't know how he shows his emotions so….He could be taking it pretty bad, also." She said, glancing over at George.

George swallowed hard, looking away because he couldn't really take it. "I…um, I should tell Mum and Dad."

She nodded. "We have owls you can use downstairs." (1)

"Got it." He walked away rather quickly, leaving her standing there. He took two stairs at a time, making his way down to the floor below.

He spotted the room with the owls and entered. There were rows of beautiful brown, black and white owls lining the walls. He looked around and sought out a table that had various types of quills on it with different colors of ink and there was also a stack of parchment that was leaning against the wall near the door.

George grabbed parchment and ink rather quickly and wrote a letter to his family, explaining that Fred was up and ready to see them all. It was short, brief, and to the point, his signature scrawled messily at the bottom.

Rapidly, he stuffed the letter into an en envelope and labeled it "The Weasleys." He tied it to the leg of a beautiful red and brown owl and watched, dazed, as it soared out the open window and into the crisp air. He didn't even realize how late it was.

Back in the hospital room, Fred was lazily flicking through the latest issue of the Daily Prophet, a bored expression on his face. He didn't even look up when he heard the door open.

"Hey, George, can you--" He stopped in mid-sentence, looking up to find Healer Marshall walking into the room, a tray full of food carefully balanced in her outstretched arms.

"Oh, um, George, you've uh…You've changed since the last time I saw you." He grinned 'charmingly' at her.

She shook her head at him and smiled slightly. "Always the charmer, huh?"

"I do what I can." He grimaced as she set the plate down on the side table.

"Ooh, hospital food, my favorite." He nodded, glancing at her.

"Oh, it's going to be, once you get used to it. And you are going to get used to it." She said sternly, a slight edge to her voice.

"Yes, sir." He saluted her and started to pick at the food, grinning to himself as she sighed in exasperation, leaving the room with a slight smile on her face.

He looked up when the door opened again, and this time it really was George. He walked over and slumped down in the chair next to the foot of the bed, watching Fred closely.

"Hey, are you feeling alright?" He had a nervous edge to his voice.

"Uh, yes, mother." Fred said in mock impatience, glancing at George out of the corner of his eye. "I feel fine. Although this food is going to make sure I don't feel that way for long."

George smiled weakly and continued to watch him.

Fred looked at him impatiently. "I'm fine George; you don't have to stare, really. No, its okay, I know I'm good looking but really, this is getting a little bit old."

This time George did laugh. "You're ridiculous."

"So I'm told." Fred nodded, still grimacing at his food. "So, when are the rent's getting here? And everyone else, of course, how could I forget them."

George leaned back, yawning slightly, trying to push the thought out of his mind that it was unusual Fred was feeling okay. "I just sent them a letter, so it might take a while, but knowing Mum they'll be here in a heart beat."

Fred nodded. "Spiffing." (A/N: xD I use that all the time.)

He gave up, pushing the food away, and leaning back heavily. "So…this is definitely boring. Think we should sneak out?"

George looked at him incredulously, his eyes wide. "Are you serious? Fred, you cannot leave this room, you are in no shape to—"

"Whoa, whoa, George, I was kidding, what's wrong with you?" He interrupted, laughing slightly. "I expect this from Mum, but really, are you okay?"

"Fine." George sighed, leaning back again, closing his eyes. "I'm just worried about you." He opened them again and stared at his twin seriously.

Fred nodded, looking away. He knew this was coming but he hoped he could prolong the conversation. "I know, George, I was kidding, I won't do anything stupid." He paused. "Well, anything _too _stupid at least."

George smiled slightly, and jumped as the door opened with a bang.

"Oh, _Fred_!" He barely had time to react as someone threw themselves at him, covering him in an enormous hug and squeezing the life out of him.

"Mum, _really_, he can't even breathe!"

Molly Weasley squeaked sharply and straightened up, blushing fiercely. "Sorry, dear." She said, brushing her and her son off.

Fred grinned. "It's nothing Mum, you're fine." He pulled her into another hug and she gave a dry sob, which was muffled since her face was pressed into his shoulder.

The rest of the family looked on at this rather awkwardly, until she backed off slightly and let her husband give him a hug.

It was Ron who had spoken earlier, and he walked forward to give his brother an awkward handshake, not meeting his eyes. He swallowed nervously, and backed off to give his other siblings room, aware of Fred's gaze on his back.

"Ah, Fred." Percy gave him, also, a handshake, and Fred scoffed at him. "Psshht…Yeah I don't think so." He grabbed the unsuspecting Percy's arm and pulled him into a one arm hug and Percy smiled into his shoulder for a second, then straightened up and cleared his throat, backing off.

One by one the rest of his siblings came up to greet him, usually giving him handshakes and hugs, until Ginny. She looked at him briefly, her eyes narrowed, almost looking angry with him, then she gave a sob like her mother and threw herself in his arms. He was braced for it this time and put his arms around her immediately.

"Shh, Ginny, it's okay, really, I'm feeling fine. Come on now, pull yourself together." He joked slightly, his voice quiet. He stroked her hair lightly and smiled at his parents from over her shoulder.

Ginny pulled back and wiped the tears off her cheeks and away from her eyes quickly. She smiled through her blurry vision and punched him on the shoulder lightly; trying to joke, yet her eyes were serious. "Fred, you make me so angry." She sighed and gave him another brief hug, getting off his bed and moving to stand next to Ron.

He shrugged. "I do that sometimes." His smile fell rather quickly and he looked at all of them with a serious expression.

"Alright, people, there are rules. Yes, rules. There are rules to follow in the hospital room of Fred." He waved his hands over his head in a rainbow-shape motion and he paused for effect, looking around at them.

"One, there is _no crying _from here on out. I'm serious, no exceptions. Well…" He paused to think about it briefly.

"Maybe Mum and Ginny can occasionally, but except for them…There are manly hugs only. Yes, because we are men." He grinned as Bill and Charlie exchanged smiles.

"Also, I want to hear jokes. Tons and tons of jokes, or I haven't gotten anywhere with you people." He smiled at them apologetically.

"Anyways, yes, a joke. Who'd like to go first? Anyone, anyone?" He looked at them, expectantly.

Percy swallowed hard. "Can I…Can I have your room?"

Molly turned sharply with her eyes wide and angry, mouth open, ready to scold her son but she stopped as she saw Fred grin and heard him laugh.

"You know what, old boy? I reckon you can." (A/N: Wow, are you guy's sick of my writing yet?)

Percy smiled at him weakly and nodded. "Really, thanks."

"Ah, yes," Fred leaned back, yawning, "George, of course, will have to carry on with the joke shop, no matter what, no excuses, mate, and Ron can--"

"What the HELL is wrong with you?!" George was on his feet in an instant, his eyes blazing, staring at his twin furiously. "How can you…How can you fucking joke about this like it's nothing?" He heard his mother gasp faintly and saw she had her hands over her mouth.

Fred was staring at him, his smile wiped clean off his face. It seemed that he only realized then how pale George was, his body shaking.

They were boring their stares into each other's eyes for a few seconds longer until Percy cleared his throat loudly, looking around at all of them.

"Maybe it's…best if we all leave the room for a little while." He said, his voice stern.

"Oh, Percy," Fred was grinning now, "It gets me all tingly when you take charge like that."

He shook his head at his brother in a mock exasperated fashion, hurrying the rest of his family out the door and leaving only the twins left.

Fred was avoiding George's angry gaze and swallowed hard. "So you've been…you've been taking screaming lessons from Mum while I was out."

"Stop it, Fred, please, just stop it." George said, his voice as furious as his eyes. "I love that you can joke about this and all, but there's a time and place where it needs to stop. Merlin, do you even have any idea what this is doing to me? Not only me but everyone else in the family? Even if you do, you don't show it. You just keep laughing it off, like it's nothing, like you're not going to die and you're not going to leave me here by myself. Sometimes…sometimes you are so selfish." He said in one long breath, his voice shaking yet his gaze was unwavering.

Fred nodded to himself, still not looking at his brother which was infuriating him even more. He looked like he wanted to say something, but George saw him bite his tongue and meet his stare head on.

"I know I'm being…stupid and immature." He winced as he admitted this. "But, I don't know George, its how I deal with it…Otherwise it wouldn't be a pretty picture and Mum would go completely mental."

George nodded, backing off and sighing shakily to himself.

"I know, I know…But seriously, while it's nice and all, I can't take you joking every five seconds…It's hard."

'Yeah, hard because I know that soon I'll never be able to hear him joke again.' George added to himself, turning away from Fred and biting his lip as hot tears stung his eyes.

Fred sighed and ran his hand through his hair, the awkward silence growing steadily between them.

"Do you mind…calling everyone back it?"

George nodded, and without another word, walked to the door and closed it behind him.

Molly rushed up to him, her expression worried and distraught.

"Are you two okay?"

George smiled vaguely at her, not looking at any other member of the family. His cheeks grew red and he realized how embarrassed he felt.

"Sorry to go off like that while everyone was in the room…It was stupid."

"Yet necessary." Charlie said bitterly, staring at the wall.

Molly sighed and looked at George with a sad expression as Arthur placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"I just don't like seeing you two mad at each other." She said, tears visible at the corners of her eyes. "Especially at times like these, hard, hard times. We need to stick together as a family and support each other." She said, more to the other members of the family, who were all swallowing hard.

George sighed and gave her a look of compassion. "I know, Mum, I'm sorry. He's ready for everyone to go say hello again…Although it's getting kind of late and you all look tired." He saw Ginny try to cover up her yawn.

Molly looked through the glass windows at her son, who was pushing the leftovers on his plate around, looking confused and troubled. ((A/N: Stupid word, sorry.))

"Well, shall we?" She sighed, yet her husband was already pushing open the door and taking his place at the side of his son's bed.

For the rest of the night you could only hear laughter coming from his room, yet behind all the jokes and all the laughter, was an impending sense of depression and sadness that was unfixable and there was nothing that any of them could do about it.

((((A/N: Heyyyyy all! Another chapter finished, yay, sigh. Sorry it's taken me so long to update. The usual, you know; School, winter formals, homework, the impending doom of huge tests. And everyone is always on this computer so it's hard to write.

1. Idk if St.Mungo's has a room of owls you can use, I totally made that up, lol. Don't flame!

Once again, I'd like to apologize if this chapter is rushed, or if it just plain sucks, or if it was too short. I always feel like the chapter sucks whether the reviews say otherwise. Oh well, I still have fun writing this.

I'd like to end this chapter with a brief section from my favorite chapter of the Shoebox project.

Of course she wouldn't understand. For the first time in James Potter's entire life, he wishes that he could discreetly swap Lily with Sirius, just for this specific moment in time. In the door, looking taller and browner and brasher than ever, are the Prewett brothers. They are wearing dragonhide trousers. James is suddenly in third year again: awkward, pimply, and breathless with awe.

"That's never little Potter?" Gideon booms, ruffling a hand through his tousle of golden hair. "Why, you look just like a person! In trouble already, are we? School not even started?"

"Jolly good," Fabian adds. "Grand old Gryffindor house tradition. Carry on!" He makes a little pumped _Pride!_ fist in the air.

James feels as if he may faint. "You know my _name_!" he squeaks, fortunately in a voice so tiny that only Lily hears him, and, mercifully, does nothing worse than roll her eyes.

The motion, however, is enough to attract Fabian's attention; he lifts his eyebrows and bows a little, dropping his voice several octaves. "I don't believe we've met." His hair is all shiny and swingy. James goes from feeling as if he's walking on a cloud to as if a little angel has sauntered along and punched him right in the neck. No one, James remembers, can resist Fabian Prewett's hair.

"Oh," Lily says, giggling quietly and tucking her hair behind her ears, "yes, we have, I was in third when you were in seventh, it's Lily, Lily Evans, and you're the Prewetts, aren't you?"

"Not Lily Evans?!" Gideon says, frankly astonished. "Carrotty Evans?"

"Well," Fabian says, drawing back, "I feel quite dirty and ancient. Beg your pardon, Evans. You _are_ looking lovely. Though I'm surprised to find you knocking about with a troublemaker like this one." He favors James with a lazy, approving grin. Never have James's emotions been so toyed with. Any minute, he thinks. The fainting. It's going to happen. He'll wake up with Fabian Prewett splashing water in his face and Gideon Prewett checking his pulse and it will, actually, be like dying and going to heaven, if only for a minute while he's still disoriented.

"As a matter of fact, Mr. Potter and Miss Evans are in my office for their first meeting as Head Boy and Girl," Dumbledore says mildly. "So good to see you, Gideon, Fabian. I had thought you were arriving earlier."

"Held up, weren't we," Gideon murmurs darkly, striding to the desk and straddling a chair backwards. "Bit of a do-up near Oxford."

"You have _never_ seen _anything_ -- well, no, I suppose you _have_ seen a lot of things like it, but the point remains, it was just -- the _scale_ -- positively astronomic," Fabian explains, also sitting backwards. The seat of his dragonhide trousers is so shiny, but James really isn't trying to look.

"What he means to say is," Gideon clarifies, "_is_, we saw stars."

"And it was a cloudy night," Fabian finishes.

Dumbledore casts a significant look across the room at James and Lily, both frozen in place, for various, awestruck reasons of their own devising. "While I have, indeed, seen such occurrences as you are so poetically describing, I can assure you Mr. Potter and Ms. Evans have not. Thank you, Mr. Potter and Ms. Evans. That _will_ be all."

James stumbles out into the hall feeling dizzy. "They are _amazing_," he mumbles. "The way they sit on their chairs, did you see that, they always used to do that, and in _dragonhide trousers_, sitting backwards on a chair in _dragonhide trousers_, they are _brilliant_--"

"And probably sterile," Lily finishes for him. "You'd think they were from Busty and Bewitched, the way you carry on about them."

"My heroes," James squeaks.

"I don't," Lily says, "I can't -- believe -- what are -- how -- argh!" She turns on her heel and storms off, leaving James to sit in the middle of the hall and recuperate.

"Padfoot!" James screeches, hurtling up the stairs completely out of breath and bursting into the dormitory, where Sirius is methodically unpacking. Of course he had to come up when James did, and of course James went up early to do Mysterious Head Boy Things, and so Sirius is now bored and alone and the best solution to this is to make the unpacking last as long as humanly possible. It reminds him of Remus, the way he separates his socks into 'nighttime socks' and 'daytime socks' which aren't actual sock categories; they just involve a higher level of organization. Sirius folds a pair of shorts and carefully color-codes them before looking up with calculated disinterest.

"Pads," James pants, "you'll never -- never guess -- who's here -- right here, in Dumbledore's office, not one hundred feet away, _right now_--"

"Edgar Allen Poe?" Sirius guesses caustically.

"The _Prewetts_," James breathes in hushed reverence. Sirius drops the shorts.

"_The_ Prewetts?" he whispers tremblingly, after a few worshipful moments.

"Gideon and Fabian and they're wearing dragonhide trousers and they said 'That's never little Potter' and Fabian hit on Lily only not really because he felt unclean after but Gideon called me 'Potter' and Fabian smiled at me and he said 'carry on,'" says James in a rush. "I was going to ask them to sign my head but I hadn't got a quill."

((Haha, love the prewetts 3 And james, of course.

'Till next time! Reviews are welcome, of course. ))))


	4. It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah

((A/N: Hey, everyone. Wow, it's been a while, right? Well, maybe not that long, sometimes I've waited like…3 months for an update from some people. It's really frustrating, is it not? Yet I don't think that many people are reading this story so I don't think people are mad about me taking a while to update lol

So, how is everyone? Right…you're probably going "Yeah, shut up and get to the story already, ya yutz." It's how I do. Omg, we had 2 snow days in a row D It's pretty much amazing. I've been sleeping till 11:30 every day. Pretty awesome, yes.

So did everyone watch Harry Potter weekend?)

Alright, onto the chapter. Huzzah!))

_Where are we_

_What the hell is going on  
The dust has only just begun to form,  
Crop circles in the carpet_

_Sinking, feeling.  
Spin me round again and rub my eyes.  
__This can't be happening.  
_

_Mmm, what you say?  
Mm, that you only meant well? Well, of course you did.  
Mmm, what you say?  
_Mmthat_ it's all for the best? Ah of course it is__.  
Mmm, what you say?  
Mm, that it's just what we need? And you decided this.  
Mmm what you say?  
What did he say?_

_Ransom notes keep falling out your mouth.  
Mid-sweet talk, newspaper word cut-outs.  
Speak no feeling, no I don't believe you.  
__You don't care a bit. _

_You don't care a bit._

_-Imogen Heap, "Hide and Seek"_

**What if: Chapter 4**

Leaning against the walls of the St. Mungo's, George sighed and stared into his cup of water with a dazed expression. Covering a yawn, he looked at his reflection in the water, which was unfocused and rippled since George was unable to hold the paper cup with a steady hand. He looked just as bad as he felt. He thought he'd end up sleeping more now since he knew Fred was okay and was feeling better; yet he couldn't get himself to fall asleep at night. Usually he was at the hospital but some nights he found himself in the flat above their shop. Without Fred there it seemed empty and distant and quiet as hell. It was so quiet that George could hear himself thinking loudly, thinking of nothing but Fred in the hospital feeling as uncomfortable and miserable as he himself felt.

A door nearby slammed shut and it brought George out of his reverie hard and fast.

He knew he should also be feeling better because Fred was happier and joking more than ever, doing so right now since Angelina, Katie, and Alicia were in the room with him, and looking through the glass George could see them re-telling a story to him animatedly, pausing at times while Fred threw his head back and laughed.

It was almost unnerving how _okay _Fred seemed with the situation. And yet there was always a weird, distant look in Fred's eyes that George couldn't really seem to place, which was weird since they were twins and shouldn't he know what Fred was feeling?

He took another long gulp of water, shutting his eyes painfully. He then remembered that Lee and Oliver were going to join them in about twenty minutes or so. This was the first day that they were all going to see each other since the final battle at Hogwarts, since Oliver was busy with Quidditch and Lee was busy with his radio station. (1) This was also the first day the girls had come to see Fred, and George had a feeling no one knew how serious the situation was. He sighed, knowing they'd have to find out somehow and it was better sooner than later.

He smiled then, remembering the good old days at Hogwarts when Lee and Alicia tried dating for a while and Fred was with Angelina. George had never quite summoned up the courage to ask Katie for a date and he remembered how awkward it was between them, yet it was almost cute how nervous they were around each other, or maybe that was just what Fred said when he used to tease him about it.

Things were different now, of course. Katie and George still weren't together, Alicia and Lee decided it wasn't going to work and she was delighted when Oliver sent her a letter from his life outside Hogwarts and they decided to give it a try. It was more than a try now and George thought with a smile how perfect they were for each other.

And then, since _another_couple decided to call it quits, Lee tested his luck with Angelina. With Fred's permission, of course, since Lee was a better friend than that. George always knew, somewhere in the back of his mind, that Lee always had a thing for Angelina but was afraid of being shot down. And since now that Fred was…

'No,' George thought to himself, 'don't think about it.' He thought maybe he was losing it, that this was becoming too much.

Just then, the door to Fred's room opened and the three girls piled out, giggling. Spotting George, they came over to him.

"Oh, this place is dreadful." Alicia commented, looking around.

"Yeah," Katie agreed, "It could be worse, though. At least there are nice nurses and Healers, we know that Fred's getting treated fairly."

"We're going to wait for Lee and Oliver in the waiting room, because, knowing them, they'll get lost looking for his room." Angelina said, with a laugh shot at Alicia, and with a 'see you soon' the girls headed down the hallway.

"Did you see his face when the healer leaned beside him to put the towels away?" George heard one of them giggle faintly as they left.

He smiled and shook his head, pushing the door open and walking in.

"Hey, Lee and Oliver are on their way." George said, stopping short when he saw the look on Fred's face. He was pretty sure Fred's eyes were rough and a dark red, his expression stricken, yet when Fred turned away quickly then turned back to face his twin, George was pretty sure he imagined it.

"Great," He said, his voice lively, "I've been waiting to hear about the station. Angelina said she was jealous of all the girls calling in." he grinned.

George was about to comment on the look he saw earlier but just then the door was thrown open and in walked Lee, a wide grin spread ear to ear on his face. Oliver and the girls walked in behind him.

"Hey, mate." He said, and strode over to the bed and shook Fred's hand vigorously. "You are looking great in that hospital gown, let me tell you."

"What can I say?" asked Fred, grinning as he lightly tugged both sleeves of the gown and letting go. (Like he was officially "pimped" by Xzibit lol)

Lee grinned and took a seat in one of the chairs. "You are too much, man. So how're you feeling?"

"Pretty good, actually, I can't complain." Fred shrugged, looking behind Angelina to see Alicia and Oliver in a loving embrace.

"I think I just threw up a little, though."

"Oh, wow, hah hah, you are a riot." Oliver said, shaking his head, but smiling no less. Like Lee, he shook Fred's hand happily. "Glad to see you haven't changed a bit."

"Yeah, I haven't, yet George is a little more girly since the last time you've talked to him." He shrugged nonchalantly as George threw him a look.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Angelina throw Katie a knowing look, smirking at her. Katie just shook her head threateningly at her friend.

"Well," Lee interrupted, his tone light, "Are you getting out of here any time soon, mate? I need you to hook me up with a few gags and goodies from your store. My cousins are coming in next weekend, you see."

Fred smiled. "Pretty soon, hopefully. I hate hospitals." He said with a mock shudder.

Angelina looked worried for a second. "It's not…serious, then?"

"A few broken bones, a few ribs bruised, and of course my egos a bit bruised from being crushed by a stupid wall, but other than that…"

George was staring unbelievingly at him, his temper rising. 'Did he…Did he seriously just _lie _about that?' And to Angelina, no less.

Fred was obviously avoiding George's piercing, accusing gaze and smiled around at all of them. No one noticed, except George, but you could practically feel the guilt radiating off of him. (2)

"So, Oliver," Fred went on, as if nothing happened, "How's Quidditch going for you, mate?"

At this, Oliver grinned widely. You could tell he was just _waiting_ for this question to pop up.

"Oh, great, it's amazing. You guys seriously should've gone into this area, there's definitely nothing like it. And the girls, man, the girls…"

At this, Alicia glared at him and smacked him on the arm. This got laughs from everyone.

Oliver just smiled at her patiently, his expression unwavering, yet when she turned away he grimaced painfully and rubbed his arm.

Lee grinned along with the rest of them. "Oh, so sorry boys, and girls, but I have to run…busy, and stuff." He didn't acknowledge Fred's snort.

"But," he went on, "I'd be honored if you would all join me later for a few drinks." He smiled apologetically at Fred.

Fred waved him off dismissively. "Don't worry about me mate, I'll be fine." He looked around at George who he could tell was going to start to protest.

"_And _you should go; no buts about it I should think."

"But Fred, I think I should-"

"Yeeeaaahhh…no."

George sighed in frustration and asked, "You sure you're going to okay alone?"

"Yeah, Mom, I'm a big boy now." Fred said sarcastically.

George gave him a piercing look and Fred could see a hidden message behind his eyes:_We'll talk later._

"Well, if that's settled then," Lee started, stretching; "I think I should get going. I'll see you all later, then, I hope."

With one last goodbye to Fred, fakely tear jerked, he left with his arms around Angelina's shoulders.

Everyone else stuck around for a little while longer then said their goodbyes, also. Katie gave one last smile and wave to George before following her friends out the door.

George turned to his brother almost abruptly.

"Whoa, don't get whiplash on me now. I don't want you in here too."

"Cut it out, Fred." He said harshly. "Why did you lie?"

Fred sighed, expecting this, and ran a hand through his hair nervously.

"I don't know, George, I was planning on saying something…I guess it was just a spur of the moment sort of thing. I guess I just don't want to worry them." He said shortly, not meeting George's eyes.

He snorted. "So, what, then, you're just going to die on them unexpectedly one day?"

Fred shut his eyes painfully and leaned back slightly. "No, I'm going to say something before then…Merlin, I could never do that to anyone."

"Yeah, and I never thought you could lie to anyone about something as big as that, too, but I guess I was wrong."

For the first time since he heard the news, or the first time George actually saw it, he could see Fred fighting back tears and wanted to take back his harsh words almost _immediately. _

"Oh, Merlin, I'm sorry Fred, I didn't mean-"

"No, its fine," He interrupted, "You're right. That was really stupid of me, I should've just told them."

George sighed, lost for words. He wasn't used to seeing Fred so guilty and helpless; it almost hurt.

"Well…I still don't know if I should go tonight."

"You should." Fred said impatiently. "If at least none of us can get out of here for a night, more power to you."

"Right…Okay." George said with a strained smile.

Later that night, George found himself in a pub sitting next to Katie. She was sitting almost too uncomfortably close.

They were sitting across from Lee and Angelina and Oliver and Alicia were on the end of the table. Everyone else was talking and laughing but George was staring into the ripples of his untouched butter beer.

Angelina noticed this. "Hey, George, are you feeling okay? I mean, you did spend good money on that." She smiled, trying to joke around with him.

George didn't return it. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just…thinking."

"Ouch." Oliver said.

George threw him a look and sighed. "I don't know, I guess I just don't like the thought of him sitting alone in that stupid room the whole night. Unless someone else visits him but other then that it has to suck really badly."

Oliver smiled sympathetically. "I know what it's like, man. I had to spend a week in a hospital once because of a bad bludger injury. It was probably the worst experience ever."

George felt anger come on very suddenly. "No, Oliver, I don't think you know what it's like."

Oliver looked taken aback. "Oh…um, sorry, George." He said, not knowing what he did wrong. Alicia put a hand on his shoulder and looked at him strangely.

"No, Oliver, it's my fault." George explained, not looking at him. "You didn't do anything wrong, I guess I'm just stressed."

Katie smiled at him. "We understand."

Wanting the attention off of him and his mood swings, George downed his butter beer in one gulp and smiled around at all of them. The others started up a conversation on Lee's station and he sighed in relief.

Oliver got up after a while and they had all finished their drinks. "I'm going to order us another round of butter beer's, or something else if you'd like it."

George's craving suddenly came back to him and wouldn't let up. He had felt this in the pit of his stomach the entire evening and decided to act on it.

"Bring me a firewhisky." He said, ignoring the looks on the girl's faces.

Oliver hesitated for a second, protesting, until he saw the strange look on George's face and swallowed his words. "You got it."

Katie looked bothered. "Are you sure about this, George? I mean, I don't think-"

"Yeah, I am sure about it." He snapped slightly although feeling guilty about it afterwards.

Katie looked almost helpless for a second, turning to her friends, but they looked just as lost as she did. Lee looked like he was going to say something for a second but then just swallowed nervously and looked around for Oliver.

He returned with their drinks and set them in front of everyone. Returning to his seat, he looked nervous and avoided their eyes.

George picked his up and took a huge gulp almost immediately. It burned his throat going down and made his eyes water but he didn't care. Even after the first drink he felt a little number than usual.

Just as the others were taking small sips of their drinks, George finished his first glass. He ordered another and ignored the protesting looks of his friends. He needed to drink until he could get an image out of his head; the image of a cold, lifeless body lying on a hospital bed.

He was ordering a fourth glass when a hand wrapped around his arm almost too roughly. It was Lee and he was looking at George with a fire in his eyes.

"Really, mate, I think you've had enough."

"Really, _mate_, stop talking about stuff you don't know anything about." He snapped harshly and Lee let go of his arm. He groaned and put his head in his hands after the room took an unexpected lurch in front of his eyes and he felt his stomach drop.

Angelina went to touch him and he recoiled slightly.

"Don't touch me." He slurred loudly and a few people turned to look.

"I think you're overreacting about this, George." Oliver told him, almost pleadingly. "He said he was going to get out in a week or so, what's your problem, man?"

"Yeah, that's what he told you." George said without thinking, his gaze as unfocused as ever. He had to concentrate on Oliver really hard to see him. "Maybe you don't know the whole story."

He smiled almost pleasantly as the other's gave each other confused looks.

"What are you going on about?" Lee asked his face bright with worry.

"You know what? It doesn't even matter anymore." He got up, swaying dangerously. People began to point and whisper now; the pub was more noticeably quiet.

"Why don't you ask him?" He said, and with that, turned and stumbled out of the pub.

He was just out the door when he heard someone calling after him. Stopping, Katie ran in front of him and he looked at her closely. It took a minute for him to recognize her.

"Go away, Katie, I'm fine." He said, trying to get her to leave.

"No, you are not." The tone of her voice made him stop and listen for a second. "I don't know what this is about but I'm going to find out. Even if there's more to the story of Fred's injuries than we know of there is no reason for you to act like this." She said, her voice sharp and clear.

"Do you want your mother to see you like this?" She asked quietly, trying to get through to him.

George paused for a second and looked like he was considering this for a moment. "No, but she's not here now, is she?" He asked, moving away from her.

He could hear her protesting but disapparated quickly, almost screaming in frustration when he felt her put her hand on his arm, taking them both away from the pub.

Luckily enough, they both arrived in front of the joke shop unharmed. George ignored her and threw the front door open after unlocking it and walked in quickly. He tried to shut the door on her but in his drunken state she was able to over power him easily.

"I don't know what you're playing at, George, but this is no way to solve it." She replied, following him.

George really did scream in frustration this time and stopped suddenly. He spun around to face her, almost falling over in the process. She steadied him and he pulled away quickly.

"Why can't you just leave me alone?" He whispered, tears stinging the back of his eyes. "I'm fine; I don't need your help."

"No, George," She protested, staring up at him, "You are not fine and more importantly you do need help. Getting drunk in a pub and yelling at everyone and almost crying is not fine. Now, can you please tell me what's wrong? I'm only trying to help you because I care about you, George." She pleaded.

He sighed and looked at her kindly for the first time that whole night. She thought he was considering her offer for a moment.

"Really, Katie, you're great and all but I really need to figure things out on my own. You can trust me to stay here by myself tonight." He told her, his tone steady.

"Fine, whatever you say." She agreed with a sigh. She didn't know how she was going to get through to him but she was going to do it.

Katie watched as he went into his room and collapsed on the bed. He was out almost instantly, the night's excitement catching up with him.

After laying a cloth over him and leaving his room, Katie went down to the kitchen and searched the cupboards. She found a few bottles of whiskey and emptied them into the sink carefully.

She walked to the front of the shop, gave the room one last glance, and shut the door behind her.

((A/N: Ah, yes, another chapter. I hope it was okay. Sorry it took a while but stuff happens.

So, April 1st, I'm wearing a shirt to school with something about Fred on it, I haven't decided yet what it's going to be. Maybe "R.I.P Fred W." with my own little 3's on it, haha.

1.I got the Radio Station idea from you, Bad Mum, and I'll take it out if you want me too, it's just a tiny thing I added in there, I'm not really going to elaborate on it or anything and make it a huge thing, it's just a little thing I added in this chapter and probably won't be used again, maybe just mentioned…I probably won't have Fred actually listen to the station or anything or have Lee play a song on there it's just something I put in for fun, I hope you're not mad.

2. I dunno if anyone's going to get mad that I had Fred lie to his friends about his condition…I guess he's just scared to tell them and he doesn't want them to worry…if you disagree with it then I'm sorry.

Also, if the grammar really sucks in this chapter, I'm sorry, I kind of wrote it pretty fast…if there are any little errors then just ignore them, k?

Till next time! Read n Review.))


	5. Permanent Monday

**Read Please!**

((A/N: Hey guys It's me again! Sorry I've taken sooooo long to update! I've had a ton of tests all of last week and I've been going to bed early after doing a lot of H.W and I had no time to write what so ever. So bear with me, I'm sorry 

Uhm I'd like to address something, even though probably only 3 people are reading this…I've been kind of disappointed with the number of reviews I'm getting…This doesn't apply to some people like Bad Mum, MBP, EvenStar606, FrednGeorgefangirl and others…But the thing is, I have **thirteen** people who have me on alerts when only **four or five** review…I mean, how sad is that? It's certainly disappointing to me. I dunno, you guys might think I'm overreacting to this but I guess it's just kind of sucks when you only get 3 or 4 reviews a chapter, it kind of leaves you unmotivated to write…Sometimes that's the case but other times I want to write because there are a few people motivating me…MBP, Bad Mum, EvenStar606 FrednGeorgefangirl, I'm write this story for YOU GUYS. You guys have been amazing and I could definitely NOT do this without you…But everyone else, and I know who you all are (hint hint, haha) It just really sucks that you guys don't take the time to review, you probably just skip the author notes and go right to the story and don't even bother to review.

I know that you guys must like the story SOME because at least you have me on alert and 2 people have me on their favorites (one of who hasn't reviewed yet, what the hell, can I ask) but how do I know if you really like it or not if you don't tell me? What if you have any ideas on how I can improve a chapter? What if you have cool ideas I can add, what if there is grammar I could be fixing when you don't even review to tell me? Like I said before, some of you are probably scoffing right now and think I'm overreacting but hey I guess I'm just a girl who loves reviews but only gets a few each chapter…This little rant probably won't get through to anyone so it's probably a waste of time. I'll just get to the chapter since that's all anyone wants.

Note: Some Death Eaters escaped from Hogwarts unscathed. 

Onward!))

**What if: Chapter 5**

George woke up suddenly with unfocused vision and a headache that could kill.

He sat up abruptly and immediately wished he hadn't. Rolling over in pain and groaning slightly, he tried to focus on the clock. 

"Holy CRAP it's EIGHT!" He yelled, getting up in such a rush he actually fell off the bed in a mess of bed sheets and comforters.

His headache came back to him so suddenly he just laid there for a moment, clutching his throbbing head. His eyes felt like they were glued shut and his throat was so dry it was like he hadn't had any water in a month.

He promised Fred he would be at the hospital by seven. An _hour _ago. 

Jumping up off the floor with a new burst of energy, George rushed around the room to find a clean pair of clothes and put them on in a hurry. After checking himself in the mirror to see if he looked even slightly presentable, and after running a comb through his messy hair very quickly, he burst out of the room leaving the door wide open.

Flying down the stairs, taking at least three at a time, he stopped with a screeching halt as a dark, unrecognizable figure came out of the kitchen only to bump right into him.

"OUCH!" Katie went flying back onto the floor with a very loud thud. Wincing slightly, she stood up shakily and brushed off her clothes.

"Oh wow, Katie, I'm so sorry, I didn't see you coming…" George said quickly, lending a hand to help her up.

"Oh, it's quite fine, George," She said, still grimacing a bit, "I'm alright."

"Are you sure?" He breathed, looking at her with wide eyes, not sure if he seriously injured her or something.

"Yeah, I'm sure." She said with a pained smile.

He gave her a curious stare. "Um…If you don't mind me asking, Katie, what are you doing here?"

She gave him a small shrug, her expression embarrassed. "I just…wanted to see if you were doing alright after…Well, after last night's debacle."

He returned her embarrassed look with one of his own, last night's events coming back to him in a rush. "Yeah…I'm sorry about that. I don't know what I was thinking." This was a lie. He knew _exactly_ what he was thinking.

A small smile lit up her pretty face, her eyes glowing. "I understand, George, even if you were acting like an idiot."

He gave her a look of mock hurt. "Thank you, Katie. No really, thanks a lot."

"It's what I'm here for."

George sighed and looked at the clock, growing even more impatient by the minute. 

"Listen, Katie, I have to go, Fred's been waiting for me for an hour and I don't want to-" He broke off at the look on her face.

"Listen, George, I didn't want to but…" She wasn't meeting his eyes and her face was lit by a look of regret. "I thought it was for the best."

He was confused. "What are you talking about, Katie?"

She sighed and her eyes were pleading with him. "Please don't be mad, George. Just promise me you won't get mad."

He was _really _confused now. "I still don't know what you're talking about."

She smiled sadly and reached up to kiss him lightly on the cheek, and if she noticed the way his cheeks grew dark red, she didn't acknowledge it.

"I have to go, George, and so do you. We'll talk later." With that, she turned and walked out the door swiftly, leaving the twin to wonder just what she meant and also wondering why she had to be so damn beautiful. After thinking this, he shook his head and the feeling off. He had more important things to worry about.

Arriving at the large hospital, George past the front desk and gave the woman a small wave. By now, most of the staff knew him and he knew them. He thought it almost funny how many people were worrying about him and his brother now. He always refused their comfort and kept to himself.

He was out of breath by the time he reached Fred's room on the fifth floor. He knew there were easier ways to get there but his thoughts were so occupied by the events of last night he wasn't thinking about anything else. He knew he'd have to talk to Angelina, Alicia, Oliver and Lee pretty soon to give them all an apology.

Opening the door slowly, he looked in to see Fred starting on his breakfast.

"Hey, I hope you don't mind me interrupting."

He was shock to see Fred look up and stare at him with a look of something George couldn't quite place. It was a mixture of concern, anger, disbelief, love and fury.

"Tell me, George," Fred started, putting his fork down with a clang, "Just what the hell were you thinking last night?"

George stared at him with disbelief, his mouth hanging open rather stupidly. He wasn't used to seeing Fred so mad at him. It shocked him into silence for almost a minute and then he was finally able to find the words to say.

"I don't know."

Fred laughed bitterly and pushed the plate of food away from him, staring at his twin so intensely it almost scared him. "You don't know. You get wasted in a public place, make a fool out of yourself, yell at all of our friends for being worried about you and you don't know what made you do it."

George tried to calm himself down; he was angry at Fred for reacting like this but felt he didn't want to yell back.

"Ah, so Katie told you, then." He said quite calmly, ignoring the fury spreading inside him like fire. He remembered how guilty she looked and how she pleaded with him not to be angry with her, but he felt he couldn't keep that promise.

"Yeah and with a good reason." Fred said, his gaze unwavering. 

It was George's turn to be angry. "Yeah, you can be mad at me for getting drunk all you want, but don't act like you're not in the wrong either. You lied to them about what's really happening to you so don't pretend like you haven't done anything bad in these past few days." He bit back at him harshly.

Fred now had a look of anger mixed with guilt.

"I…I didn't have the courage to tell them then."

He remembered the harsh way Fred had mocking laughed at him earlier and did the same thing back. 

"You'll have to tell them eventually.

"You know what, George, I'll do that when I do that but don't turn this back around on me now. I'm asking you why the hell you're trying to numb the whole situation by drinking it away. It's not going to fix the problem and we both know that."

George felt like holding back before but now he was nowhere near that. "God, Fred, stop trying to act like my mother or something, I really don't care at all if you think I'm handling this the wrong way, for Merlin's sake you don't even CARE what this is doing to me, you just keep laughing and joking all the time about it. I don't even _know _when you're going to die, it's just going to happen and then you'll be gone and I don't know how to fucking deal with that." He felt tears coming on but blinked them away hastily and harshly. 

"So, if I want to get drunk I'm going to, and you're not going to have a good argument until you tell everyone what the hell is going on with you and admit to the fact that you're scared about it. Just keep covering it up with laughs and jokes and stuff like that, but until you cut out that little charade you have going on, you can't tell me jack about what to do with my life."

All the fury George had inside himself was let out by those words. Immediately, just _immediately, _he wished he could take it back. The look on Fred's face at what he just said made him want to grovel at his feet and beg for forgiveness. He didn't let this show on his face; however, he just kept staring back at his twin with the same hard stare.

Fred cleared his throat shakily and turned his gaze to the floor. "I guess you're right George, I can't tell you what to do with your life. I'm just worried about you…"

"Don't be." He said, in softer voice, yet it was still rough. "I can take care of myself." He walked to the door and opened it, ready to walk out, until he heard what Fred said next.

"Just for the record, George, I'm bloody _terrified._"

George was turned away so he couldn't see Fred's face, yet he could picture it in his mind and all he wanted to do was run back into the room and hug him fiercely. Yet, all he did was shut the door behind him without another look or word.

George left the hospital rather quickly; he wasn't running yet he almost was. All he knew was he wanted to put a ton of space between him and Fred. Without thinking, he disapparated on the spot right after he left the front doors of St.Mungo's. He didn't know where he wanted to go, he couldn't see a clear image of the place in his mind, yet soon after that he felt himself land with a thud onto the floor of the Burrow. 

He was breathing heavily as he pushed himself off of the floor. He leaned back against the rough surface of the kitchen counter and closed his eyes. He felt a single tear slip down his face as he played back the conversation with Fred over and over again in his mind. He couldn't believe the words coming out of his mouth and the way they sounded. That could not be him; his voice was not that vicious and mean. Yet, it was. He felt like running back to the hospital and begging for his twin's forgiveness but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He was rooted to the spot and couldn't move.

Brushing the tear away impatiently, he just stared around the room for a minute or two blankly. His eyes strayed to the cabinet to the far right of the room and felt a certain pull to it. He remembered his dad pulling out a bottle of firewhisky from it not too long ago when they heard the news of Moody's death. (1)

Crossing the room rather quickly, George fell to the ground beside it and opened the small door without a second thought. Rummaging through it with a blind eye, he found what he was looking for and reached for the tall bottle.

He pulled his hand away as he heard footsteps growing louder and louder. Turning his head just the right amount to bring the doorway into view, he left the cabinet door wide open as Percy stalked into the room with an alert look on his face.

"…George? What are you doing?" He asked suspiciously, his eyes darting from George's face to the liquor cabinet.

Hastily, without looking away from his brother, he shut the door with a small click. He stood up and turned to face Percy fully.

"I thought I heard someone down here. Now, I'll ask again, what's up?" Percy went on, a slight edge to his voice.

"Still trying to be a know-it-all as usual, eh, Percy? I could ask you the same question." George bit back at him, his bad mood still in full force.

Percy looked shocked for a moment, and then he regained his composure. 

"I'm here to find Dad…I needed to ask him a ministry related question…" His eyes still withheld the suspicious look. "I thought you were at the hospital."

"Yeah," George said, staring him full-on in the face, "Seems I'm the only one there nowadays, anyway." He said, in an almost nonchalant way.

Percy's face was red now. "We've all been a bit busy…" He said, guilt dripping from his words.

"Yeah, too busy to visit Fred, you mean, your dying brother." George went on, trying to make Percy as guilty as he himself felt. He wanted someone else to feel pain, for once, not just him.

Percy seemed lost for words for a minute. "I…well, I mean, we…"

George gave a small spurt of laughter, shaking his head bitterly. "That's what I thought." 

The conversation giving him a rush, he was no longer embarrassed about almost being caught and just opened the cabinet and pulled out the bottle of alcohol. He ignored the look on Percy's face and poured himself a glass.

"Want some?" He asked blatantly, taking a swig from the tall glass.

Percy looked shocked. "What are you…What the hell are you doing?"

George shrugged. "Dealing."

His brother continued to watch this for a few more minutes with an almost disgusted look on his face. Percy shook himself out of his stupor and pulled out his wand.

"_Accio_!"

Both the bottle and the glass flew out of George's hands and into Percy's outstretched ones. He set them on the counter farthest away from George and he turned back to face him with a set expression.

"What the hell is going on with you, George? Why are you acting like this? Do you think getting drunk all the time is going to stop you're problems, huh, do you? Acting like this is NOT going to help Fred get better, you're only digging a deeper hole for yourself and it's probably only making Fred more miserable than he already is."

If George heard any of this, he didn't acknowledge it. He looked at Percy with an almost bored expression and made a gesture toward the bottles. 

"Give them back." He said, almost calmly.

"You're an idiot if you think I'm going to do that." Percy told him, his tone hard and bitter.

He narrowed his eyes. "This is a big mistake on your part, Perce."

Percy ignored him. "What would Mum and Dad think if they saw you acting like this, George? Do you think they'd be proud? Do you think-"

He was cut off in mid-sentence as a fist came at his face suddenly and hit him full on. He was knocked backwards a second later as George pounced on him and started to punch every single inch of skin that he could reach.

Percy felt blood gushing out of his nose and groaned loudly. His groan was muffled as George hit him hard on the mouth. He grabbed George's flailing arms and accidentally kneed his brother hard in the stomach, making him sit upright and gasp for breath. Wands were lying forgotten a few feet away from them as Percy took his advantage and knocked George onto his back. 

Pinning him and his arms onto the ground, Percy gasped out, "George, STOP, STOP!"

George suddenly stopped struggling and just laid there, his head turned to the side, his watery gaze not on Percy's face. His breathing was hard and fast as he regained his composure. Percy stayed where he was and just stared down at his brother, his breathing going back to normal.

Letting his guard down for just a moment, he let out a yell of surprise as George suddenly came up and knocked Percy off of him, sending an elbow to his stomach to knock the wind out of him.

Gasping for breath and holding his side, Percy was sure he was going to get attacked again but was genuinely surprised as George leaned against the cupboards and started to sob into his hands.

Percy moved over to him slightly and put a hand on his shoulder. He said nothing and just sat close to him, tightening his grip a little. He let George cry and cry until it finally subsided about ten minutes later. Sometimes Percy could hear him gasp out, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," over and over again and other things but he could barely understand him.

They sat there in silence for a few minutes as George tried to calm himself down. Lifting his face up out of his hands, he wiped away the tears that were cascading down his face.

"So," he barely managed to say, "How the hell did we manage to pull this off without Mum trampling down the stairs to tell us off about disturbing the whole house?"

Percy gave him a small smile. "Before I came down here to figure out what the hell you were doing, I found out that everyone had left to go and visit Fred."

"Oh…I see." George said shakily. Looking at Percy more closely, he returned the smile. 

"Uhh…You've got a little…" He pointed at his face with a guilty look.

Previously occupied by George's scene, he didn't realize how much his face hurt until that moment. Summoning a few tissues, he almost gasped at the amount of blood that came off on them.

"Once again…sorry." He said sheepishly.

"It's…fine," Percy said, wincing, "You were just angry…and upset…and…Merlin, this fucking hurts."

George looked shocked for a second, and then he just laughed. 

"Geez, Perce, when have I ever heard you swear? Oh yeah, that's right- never."

He looked embarrassed, although smiling. "It sort of…slipped."

George snorted. "Right, I'm sure it did. I think the real Percy has been bottled up inside you for a while now."

Percy shook his head and put on a determined expression, looking somewhat haughty. "Not really. Don't get used to it."

George smiled and Percy's expression faltered; now he looked somewhat concerned. "So…What was that little episode really about?"

He sighed and ran his hand through his hair, avoiding his brother's stare. "Fred and I got into a fight at the hospital…I said some pretty nasty things that I really regret. He probably hates me now." He said, looking discouraged and depressed.

Percy frowned a little and shook his head. "I doubt that he could ever hate you, George. He'll forgive and forget…He'd probably brush off _any _mean thing you'd ever say, I mean, you're his twin brother."

George really didn't even consider that. "I don't know, Percy…You weren't there. It was pretty bad. After I said it, I couldn't see his face but from the tone of his voice he sounded really devastated. Merlin, how could I have been so cruel and vicious like that?" Thinking back on their conversation, George felt disgusted about the way he had acted.

Percy shook his head again, repaired his broken glasses, which were lying on the floor a few feet away from them, and put them back on his bloodied face. He stared at George with a meaningful expression.

"Still…Even if I wasn't there…I know you two well enough to say that he'd forgive you for anything, George."

George refused to talk about it any longer. The two of them sat in an uncomfortable silence for five more minutes until Percy cleared his throat.

"Well…The family only left about fifteen minutes ago…We could catch them at the hospital and you can say what you need to say to Fred."

George nodded, looking at the floor. "That's a good idea."

"We might even get there before them. Mum said she had a few things to take care of before they went."

The two of them stood up. George waited briefly while Percy performed a cleaning spell on his face to get rid of the last remnants of blood.

No other words were exchanged; one last look, and together, they disapparated.

In his small room, Fred was staring at the ceiling absentmindedly with a bored expression on his face. He didn't know how life could get any worse at this point. George hated him, he was stuck in this stupid room for the rest of the short life he had left and the ugly colored tiles above him were _really _ticking him off. He wanted to talk to the decorator _right now_.

He sighed and stared at the plate of food on the table next to him. He hadn't touched it since George left that afternoon; he really didn't have an appetite left. He really wanted to help his brother and he had no idea how. He could tell George had no idea about how his drinking could start affecting everyone else. More importantly, he didn't realize how it could affect _him_. He knew George wasn't the same person when he drank. He's seen it before; they used to drink some when they first moved into their new flat above the shop. They saw fit for a celebration after that; no Mum in the house, no strict rules and more importantly they weren't surrounded by their huge family all the time. Fred chuckled as he remembered he and George talking about how they would miss pranking Ron and ticking off their mother. Still, they were free and they could drink all they wanted to because no one could tell them they couldn't. He frowned, remembering the person George was when he was wasted. He was more violent and rough and spoke before really thinking about it. He remembered when Lee had come to visit them and George snapped at him after he did something George didn't particularly like. If George kept getting drunk he could hurt other people without meaning to or he could start hurting himself.

Lost in his train of thought, Fred didn't look up at first when the door was opened and shut quietly. Upon hearing footsteps, Fred raised his head in delight, thinking it was George coming to clear the air between them.

"_Petrificus Totalus!_"

Fred didn't even have time to react. Before he knew it, he was thrown back onto the hard mattress and his arms and legs snapped tightly to his sides. His eyes widened and he stared at the person in front of him.

The person pulled down the hood of their jet black cloak and wore an expression of pure jubilance. Their mouth was set in a wide, yellow-toothed grin and their small black eyes were gazing at him with a look of horrific excitement and hate.

"Ah, Mr. Weasley, we meet again." Rookwood said slowly, his eyes unwavering on Fred's face. If he could talk, he would've told Rookwood to go do something his mother would not have approved of him saying.

"Oh, did you not know I survived that faithful day that was only a week ago? Ah, yes, a few of my…partners and I escaped without harm. I'd say the Auror's were a little off their game then, wouldn't you?"

Without waiting for a response, which he knew Fred couldn't give, he went on in a hushed, raspy tone. "I would also guess that you have no idea your little 'accident' really wasn't an accident at all. The walls at Hogwarts are not as thick as they look. I heard you and you're _vile _family on the other side of that wall. Oh, how you blood traitors sicken me. Joking and laughing about the war like it was something that should be mocked. I couldn't stand listening to you animals go on like that any longer. Knowing I had the chance to kill off a few of you was not something I could let slip by me. So I then blasted down that wall and let it come down on you."

Laughing bitterly, he imitated the sound it made when it fell on Fred. A sickening _crunch _that sounded ten times worse when Rookwood finished and laughed loudly about it. A fury he had never felt before rose in the pit of his stomach. He wanted nothing more but to get out of the body-bind and punch his ugly face in.

Rookwood finally stopped laughing and turned his attention on Fred again, his smile widening maliciously. "Ah, but imagine my disappointment when I got wind of the fact that you didn't die at all. I was satisfied when I heard you were dying; I heard that I did indeed inflict some damage."

He began to pace slowly. "But this isn't good enough, you see, young Weasley. Your death will probably not even be painful…It might be quick and peaceful."

"But I can not have that, no. I want you to feel pain like you've never felt it before. I want it to be the most excruciating experience of your pathetic little life. And do you know what the best part of it is going to be, Mr. Weasley? That as you die you're going to know that after it happens…I'm going after your family and I will kill them slowly; I will kill them one…by…one."

Rookwood gave him his yellow toothed grin and he wanted to hurt him so badly. He felt like thrashing and screaming and getting out of this stupid body-bind and showing _him _what real pain felt like. Rookwood wouldn't even know pain until he challenged Fred Weasley.

Rookwood's expression turned solemn. "After my master was killed…I thought my purpose in life was gone. So many of my fellow Death Eater's died that day and seeing their lifeless bodies changed me…for the better. The few of us that are left…we decided the Death Eater's aren't going to stop with the death of their master…No. We're going to avenge his death and we're going to do it smoothly. Blood traitors and Mudbloods are the first to go…" His grin was back. "Starting with you."

Pulling out his wand slowly for effect, at which Fred rolled his eyes, he pointed at Fred's chest. The furious feeling was gone and it was replaced with fear. He didn't want to die…not with so many things left unsaid between him and George.

"Ah, but see Mr. Weasley, I said I wanted your death to be slow and painful. And it will be. So instead of using the simple killing curse…"

"_Sectumsempra!_"

It was a feeling of intense pain like no other. His eyes wide with horror, Fred watched as his robes and skin tore apart and blood started to pour from the wounds. It felt as if his chest was being stabbed with millions of tiny knives. And in being in a full body-bind he couldn't deal with the pain by moving, screaming or thrashing. All he could do was lay there and watch in pure agony as more blood cascaded down his chest.

Rookwood had the nerve to laugh. His eyes twinkled with delight; but not in the way that Dumbledore's used to. There was nothing pleasant or kind about it.

Fred's eyes started to water and his vision took a sudden lurch. The room spun and Rookwood's laughing figure swayed back and forth in front of him, the outline of him somewhat blurry. He wanted to groan or scream or do something besides just lying there and watching it happen.

"Feeling a little bit faint, Freddie? Yes, that would happen, wouldn't it? Oh, that must hurt, let me help you. _SECTUMSEMPRA!_"

More slashes appeared on the skin on his arms and legs. The stinging sensation came back but this time it was barely there. He was becoming numb and the pain was so overwhelming it was like it wasn't there anymore...His eyes began to water more rapidly as he thought of how much he wanted to see George walk through the door at that moment.

This didn't happen. For another few minutes, Fred faintly heard Rookwood laughing in the background as the seconds slowly passed by. The laughing began to sound farther and farther away…as if someone was holding their hands tightly over his ears. His eyelids were feeling really heavy and his vision was almost totally black now. He could see outlines and colors and the brightness of things but he could barely tell Rookwood apart from the bedside table. He didn't know which was which.

Suddenly, the door was thrown open and people were piling in. Fred couldn't tell who they were…heck; he couldn't even tell if they were actual people. They just seemed like blurry objects to him.

Disarming spells were being thrown all over the place. Fred could see red flashes in front of his eyes but that was about it. He could hear women screaming in the hallway and he was even sure that he could hear Healer Marshall yelling out instructions at the far end of the room.

"_Expelliarmus! Explliarmus!"_

Someone leaned over him and Fred wasn't sure who it was. He had a feeling it was Rookwood and he wanted nothing more but to hurt the man badly.

He wanted to laugh. He wanted to laugh at him and tell him that he was a pathetic nobody and no matter how many people he killed he would always remain the same way. He also wanted to scream. He wanted to scream for George and tell him he was sorry. He wanted to…he wanted to…

Fred could feel himself slowly slipping away to unconsciousness. He tried to keep himself awake but he was failing miserably…

'Well, this sucks, I haven't even cleared things up with George yet.' He thought, his eyes open yet seeing barely anything. He heard more voices shouting. Oh, wait, was that Percy? It kind of sounded like him. And wait another second; was that his Mom screaming, too? Yes, he has heard that scream too many times to not recognize who it was. In the far back of his mind he was pretty sure he also heard his father, Bill, and also, was that George?

"_AVADA KEDAVRA_!"

While seeing a green flash of light before his eyes, the shout of the killing curse was the last thing Fred heard before everything went black.

((A/N: Oh snap cliffhanger! Lol, I have NO idea where that last part came from…I don't think anyone was expecting that. I really didn't plan that to be in the story, it just kinda came to me…I've been in dire need of ideas for a while now and this sort of just popped up…Haha, I've been watching a ton of horror films in the past week and I've just been in that kind of mood lately so…This is where it has taken me.

Also, I want to mention that someone **DID DIE** at the end there. The question is, who was it? Well, I can't tell you until the next chapter because I'm horrible like that. -grins maniacally- I'm not going to put a poll up, but if you guys want to you can guess in your reviews. Who did you think it was? The options are: A random Death Eater/Healer…Or someone we know like Molly, Arthur, Percy, George, Bill, or even Fred himself. -gasp!- you never know. Guess away.

So, does anyone think anyone was OOC here? I dunno if George would've been THAT harsh to Fred in the hospital but I just thought he'd be defensive and mean like that when Fred was trying to 'be like his mother'. Also, does anyone seriously hate Rookwood here? He's sooo annoying…but I guess I made him that way, lol.

1.I haven't read the 7th book in a long time so I don't remember who was the one to get the firewhisky…oh well…ignore that little part if it was wrong.

I'd also like to mention, about my author's note at the top, sorry if I was overreacting or anything…You don't have to review if you don't want to. Just keep reading and I'll be happy :)

So it's official…DH is going to be split into two movies…One is coming out in November 2010 and the other in May 2011. I'll be in college! Ah! I'm kind of upset over that…other people like it because they say it'll be like having three movies left instead of two. I just think people will forget what happened in the period of time between the first half and the second. It should come out like…two weeks later. Oh well

Well, I'll be going now so…until next time! Read and review!))


	6. My Immortal

((((A/N: Hey guys! Wow it's been a while. What would you do if I said I purposely waited this long so I could keep you guys guessing? …Well I didn't do it on purpose, I swear. I'm not lazy on purpose, it just happens xD It's Spring Break and I've been doing other stuff and not writing…Yeah I know, I'm horrible. Also, I really wanted to update on April 1st and wish Fred and George a happy birthday! woot! I love that they were born on April 1st, that's awesome.

So, a few people in their reviews guessed who died…But I'm sad to say that nobody got it right. Oh well…But can I say I LOVED FrednGeorgefangirl's suggestion of Molly killing Rookwood xD That cracked me up…Needless to say, that isn't what happened, but it made me laugh all the same.

Usually my author's notes are really long but this time I'll just shut up and get to the story. But also, I just wanted to say that this chapter is probably going to be shorter than the rest…It's probably just going to consist of a lot of sap, crying and sobbing, hugging and…more sap. Haha, I'll shut up now, kthnx.))))

**What if: Chapter 6**

Molly Weasley was in shock.

All she could do was stare blankly and open-mouthed into the hospital room that her son once resided in. She could barely even feel the heavy hand Arthur was resting on her shoulder and she could barely hear the comforting words he was whispering into her ear. She couldn't even find the strength to turn her head to look at George; she was certain he was just as shocked and speechless as she was.

George Weasley couldn't believe what he just witnessed.

The rest of the Weasley's stood behind him but he could barely feel their presence. They were strangely quiet and unmoving; the only person who uttered a sound was Ginny. She was crying lightly into her hands and leaned into Ron as he put his arms around her.

All he could do was stare through the window into the hospital room that belonged to Fred. He didn't even jump as his mum snapped out of her trance and burst into loud, heart-breaking sobs. Arthur wrapped her in his embrace and whispered faster into her ear, the stricken expression on his face matching his wife's.

George unwillingly played the scene over and over again in his mind. He remembered rushing into the room and whipping out his wand and throwing so many disarming curses he was surprised he could even yell the word right after that. He remembered the way Rookwood's eyes lit up and his smirk grew even wider; even more vicious. He remembered the way Rookwood relentlessly threw several Avada Kedavra curses at all the people who dared to take him on. He remembered the way Fred grew so still after that…how pale he was after he…

He was staring at the body bag without really seeing it. It wasn't zipped up all the way but from where he was standing he couldn't see anything, anyway. For that, he was grateful.

He silently watched as his mother looked from the empty bed to the bag with watery eyes, her hand over her mouth in an attempt to stifle her sobs. George felt his heart go out to her and he looked away, unable to watch any longer.

He didn't like the way the bed was so…so eerily empty. The blood-stained sheets were changed almost immediately after the chaos had ended rather abruptly as Aurors arrived. He remembered being dragged out of the room by a person he couldn't see, but he remembered how the strong arms had felt familiar and how the persons red ponytail fell into his face. He remembered little after that and now he stood staring into the room where Fred…where Fred was…

Meanwhile, Lee Jordan, standing next to the Weasleys with the rest of his friends, was looking on at these actions with a confused look on his face.

"What's wrong with you guys? Fred is fine." He said, indicating with a jerk of his head to the spot down the hall where Fred was currently residing.

Fred looked rather annoyed as various Healers stood around him. They appeared to be asking him a lot of questions and they seemed to be talking fast. Fred was rolling his eyes and had the annoyed expression of a person who had been asked to repeat something over and over again. He appeared to be healed; Lee couldn't see any open wounds on him. He guessed that the Healers knew the counter spell to the Sectumsempra curse.

Molly smiled lightly at Lee and wiped her tears away with a shaking hand. "I know he is, dear, but it easily could've been HIM in that body bag…I just keep thinking if we arrived even a second later he could've…he could've…" She fell into another round of sobs and leaned into her husband, her shaking hand over her mouth.

Lee, who had only gotten there a few minutes ago, gave George weary smile and put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry you had to see that, mate, it sounded horrible…"

George wiped his forehead and glanced at his friend. "I'm just glad the Aurors were able to stun him in time to stop him from killing anyone else…He and a few other Death Eater's were caught and locked away in Azkaban…" After saying these words, a new intense feeling of fury washed over him and he thought that Rookwood deserved more than that…maybe even death. George shuddered as he realized _he_ just wished death on another human being and that scared him.

A few feet away from them, Katie and Angelina were standing close to each other and their faces were pale with almost a sickly-green tint to them. Angelina had silent tears running down her face as she and her best friend stared down the hall to where Fred was. They looked like they wanted nothing else but to talk to him, maybe even run to him and hug him…Problem was, the Healers were quite reluctant to let anyone near him until they knew the whole story. Whereas the girl's faces were pale, Fred's face had a little more color to it now that he was conscious and his wounds were patched up. Yet he still looked a little sick as he repeated the story for the tenth time that day.

The door to Fred's hospital room opened and two Healers came out, closing the door behind them once they were able to wheel out the body bag all the way. Everyone in the hallway was silent as they came past with it, their faces stony and frowning. A female Healer down the hall was weeping openly, the tears flowing down her face. She tried to quiet herself with her hands but failed miserably.

The body bag was partly open when the Healer's strolled by and Lee Jordan looked in without a second thought. He drew in a slow breath as he saw the pale, once pretty face of a young woman who could not have possibly been older than 27. Healer Marshall's dark brown eyes stared without seeing; they were once full with life but now their light was lost. Lee's heart went out to the woman's family and the Healer down the hall who was almost _choking _she was crying so hard. Lee had a feeling her and Fred's Healer had been close friends.

Only when the two Healers turned the corner and disappeared from view did Lee let out a shaky breath. He shook his head and sighed.

"That sucks…really bad."

Molly nodded, her watery eyes still straying down the hallway. "Yes, she was a very kind woman…She was a brilliant healer, according to Fred, and she always treated him with the best care. It's sad to see her go before her time." She said, her voice full of the utmost sincerity.

The Healers who had been interrogating Fred before seemed to be finished. With a nod of her head, one Healer signified that they were able to come over and talk to him. When Lee and George arrived at the spot, Fred seemed a little put out.

Lee put a cautious hand on his shoulder. "Hey, man, what's up?"

Fred shrugged. "My new Healer's a guy."

Lee smiled lightly. "Ouch."

Fred sighed and ran a hand through his hair and George could tell he was avoiding his eyes.

"I...I don't really know what to say. It just really sucks."

"She was great. A great Healer, a good friend, a great person to talk to. It just really, really sucks."

None of them said anything for a while. Fred leaned back silently in his chair and they all took a moment to remember Healer Marshall and the kind-hearted woman she was.

The silence was broken by Molly Weasley rushing over to give her son a huge hug.

"Oh, Fred, _Fred, _we're so relieved you're okay, oh, honey-"

Fred was laughing as he returned his mother's hug and he then tried to pry himself away from her but to no avail. "I'm glad you're, um, glad...Mum, really, you're cutting off my blood circulation."

She pulled away, but this time she didn't look embarrassed; she was positively beaming. "I know I should...get a hold of myself."

He smiled. "It's fine. Really, it is."

To another person, George realized, Fred would look like a normal, healthy person who was getting over a traumatic experience. In George's case, he noticed Fred's pale face, his shaking hands, and the look in his eyes indicating that he was just as shaken up as anyone else. He looked no where near getting over it.

Just as soon as Molly had pulled away, she decided against it and drew Fred in for another bone-crushing hug.

"I am never, ever, _ever _letting you out of my sight again."

He let out a choking laugh and tried to get loose yet again. "I'm fine, really Mum, no need to worry about me-"

"Don't be ridiculous." She muttered, not loosening her hold. "Something like this could happen again, and we might not coincidently be here at the same time that it happens, and then what? Maybe you'd-"

Trying not to grin along with Lee, George put his hand lightly on her shoulder. "Okay, Mum, maybe you should let go, you really ARE cutting off his circulation this time."

Blushing, she pulled back, but not before giving her son another quick squeeze. She was still red in the face when the other members of the family joined then.

George stood back by the wall and watched as his siblings interacted with Fred and watched as he laughed at the things they said. Fred turned his head in the middle of his conversation with Percy and locked eyes with George. A mutual understanding passed between them: they'd talk later.

Next to take their turns with him were the three girls. They were recently joined by Alicia and Oliver who looked like they had been informed of what happened. They had mutual expressions of shock and anger, and Fred, only joking a little, told them no, he would not re-tell the story for them.

After a few minutes of random chatting and awkward attempts at changing the subject, Fred cleared his throat loudly. "Hey, uh, you guys...could I see you all in my room?" He sounded a little but nervous and George realized why.

After making sure Lee was with the group, and the body had been moved from his room, Fred had all of them, minus George, join him in the vacant space. After passing George on his way in, without looking at him, he whispered, "This is something I need to do on my own."

Pausing at the door, Fred turned to look at George, and George smiled at him encouragingly. He felt a little bit better when he saw something in his brother's eyes lighten.

George smiled as he realized it kind of looked like they were in a business meeting. Fred was talking for a while before their expressions started to crumble. Turning away, George leaned against the door and closed his eyes tightly. He heard one of the girls crying softly, maybe it was Angelina, he couldn't really tell. He knew it wasn't Katie because he knew how she sounded when she cried. He remembered hearing her cry after the Yule Ball in their sixth year when her date from Durmstrang had promptly abandoned her. George could've slapped himself for not asking her _himself _that year. It was a stupid move on his part and he regretted it. He wished he could've spent more time with her and then _they _could've spent time with Fred and Angelina before...well, before this all happened.

He remembered never wanting to hear that sound again; it broke his heart. He remembered offering to find the git himself and punching his face in for her. Laughing a little through her sobs, Katie insisted that it was fine and nothing like that was needed. They spent the rest of the evening just talking and learning more about each other. They were, of course, interrupted by Fred, the prick, and the thought of this made George smile and shake his head at his twin brother's antics.

He was snapped back into the present with a jolt as he heard Oliver curse lightly and heard Lee start muttering incoherently under his breath. He then heard someone muttering, "This can't be happening."

Putting a bit of distance between the door and himself, George moved closer to the rest of his family and let their chatter overwhelm him so he couldn't hear what was going on in that dreaded room. George grinned lightly without it reaching his eyes as Bill bumped him in the arm lightly and smiled at him. As little as this gesture seemed to be, between them it was so much more and that raised George's spirits a bit.

He barely noticed as the door opened and their friends piled out. He glanced at them and tried not to feel their pain as he took in the girl's tear-streaked faces and Oliver's and Lee's matching crushed expressions. He looked away without thinking about it because it was all too much to bear. It was almost like their misery was pouring off of them and George could feel it. Of course, it didn't even compare to his own.

Looking through the window, he saw Fred standing in the middle of the room and it just looked so large around him. He looked so small and that didn't sit well with George. Feeling the stare, Fred turned around and matched his gaze with his own. With a shaky smile and also a shaky hand, he beckoned to George to "come hither", which was something he said sometimes.

Closing the door behind him, George walked slowly to the middle of the room and stopped before the hospital bed where Fred was sitting quietly. He looked so much older than he was; George could barely recognize the lively twin he spent so much time with in the past.

"So." Fred said without missing a beat.

"So..." He retaliated, just as awkwardly.

"I'm guessing we have a lot to talk about." Fred said, his tone light yet it had a hint of weariness.

"Yeah..." George sighed and ran his hand through his hair, wanting this conversation to happen so badly yet at the same time dreading it entirely. "I guess so."

At the same time, they said, "I was way out of line, I'm sorry."

Blinking curiously for a minute, since they haven't done that in so long, a minute later, they said in unison, "Shut up, no you weren't."

George crossed his arms and looked mock-offended.

"I think you should shut up."

"Whoa, whoa, if anyone should shut up here, I think it's you, alright? End of story."

Laughing, and blinking back tears, George took this moment in and let it sit for a while. Taking a deep breath, he went on shakily.

"No really, Fred, in all seriousness...I don't know what I was talking about the...the last time we talked. Or yelled, actually, now that I think about it. It was your decision to make if you wanted to tell them or not about...about what's going on. I had no right to talk to you like that. You're...you're dying and I'm acting like I don't give a single care in the world. No, really, let me finish, Fred. You were just worried about me. The drinking was a stupid thing on my part...it was a big mistake. I regret it...Only after beating up Percy did I realize I was being totally and utterly retarded. It won't happen again, I promise. If you want me to leave right now and never show my 'ugly' face around here again...I understand." He uttered most of this in a single breath. He meant every single word of it...he was only joking a little bit at the end.

Fred was shaking his head through the entire rant. "No, no...It really was my fault. I get why you were...doing what you were doing, it was stupid of me to get mad because I probably just encouraged you even MORE and well...I guess you were just trying to cope with all this since it's just a crazy amount of stress...and wow, I really have no argument here compared with your little spiel. And whoa, whoa, my face is definitely not ugly."

George laughed a bit at this but mostly just tried to choke back a sob.

His twin also reluctantly let a few tears slide down his cheek. "Oh, Merlin, I'm breaking my own rules in here. N-no crying from you, George, its bad enough that I'm..."

Without hesitation or a hint of regret, he launched himself into Fred's arms and gripped him in an embrace so hard it rivaled his mother's.

"I-i I thought you were dead, when I heard that c-curse, I just thought the worst thing possible happened; I thought I l-lost you before we...before we could..." He couldn't even say anything else as the sobs racked his body and he gripped at Fred's arms with all the strength in his body. Trying to get a hold of himself, he lost it again _completely _when he heard and felt Fred crying with him. He buried his face in Fred's shoulder and even felt a little bit bad when he was getting his clothes wet.

"I-I'm fine, George, I swear, now no m-more breaking of the rules before I fight you." Fred knew these words wouldn't affect his brother or he wouldn't even _hear _them, and he just held George while he cried and sobbed back with him. He felt like a pansy, yes, but at that moment he swore he didn't want to be anywhere else.

All the hostile feelings and anger came out with their tears and they let them go without another thought. Fred could barely see through his tears but he looked out the window vaguely and couldn't see the blurry outline of anyone and knew that his family had left them alone for a few minutes to work things out. He felt grateful, depressed, overjoyed, anxious, happy and miserable all at the same time. George started to laugh a little through his sobbing and this only made Fred grip him tighter. He knew that things would be great between them until the day that he finally kicked the bucket. At that moment, George was hoping, or more praying, that this day wouldn't come for a long time.

A half an hour later, the new Healer found the two passed out next to each other with twin expressions of relief.

_**When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears  
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears  
And I held your hand through all of these years  
But you still have  
**__**All of me**_

((A/N: Lol, sappy ending, I know xD

I love the song, though. It fit. If you guys go and read the lyrics to that song, it SERIOUSLY fits with Fred. I listened to it while writing this and it made me cry. Seriously, read those lyrics, it so fits.

Anyways…I faked you guys out at the beginning. xD That was my own little April Fool's joke there. Yeah, I know it wasn't funny, it wasn't meant to be, and I know you all probably hate me and are now boycotting this fic, haha. I love Lee, he's just like, wtf is up with you guys? Hehe, I had fun writing that part. Even though you guys all hate me now for doing that to you.

So, like I said before, this chapter is mostly sap, sap and more sap…but I think it was a little enjoyable and cute. I love me some Gred n Forge, yep, D

So, please read and REVIEW! I will give everyone who reviews a virtual cookie. Good virtual cookies. Until next time! Happy b-day, once again, to Fred and George! We love you!))))


	7. Author's note

A/N: Okay, I just want to say off the bat- this isn't a chapter. I know, you're all going to find out where I live and hunt me down right now because I got your hopes up that this is a chapter.

Well, it isn't. I was going to apologize in the next chapter in a little author's note but I'd rather just post the author's note now and fill you guys in on a few things. No, the story will not be discontinued. I know it seems like that because I haven't updated in basically FOREVER.

I will give my excuses now for not updating; I will let you guys decide if they make up for not updating in a while. A week after my last update, I joined pit orchestra for the musical we were doing in school(I play the violin) We were actually supposed to start rehearsing like…two months before that but for some reason the play director didn't get us our music until a month and a half before the show. So basically we had a ton of long, grueling practices which went on FOREVER. I had no time to write. Then, just at that moment it seemed that my homework kept piling up and piling up and I had no time to do anything but do my homework and practice for Bye Bye Birdie. Then we have my orchestra Pops concert coming up and I have a few big songs to practice, including Lord Of The Rings which is a really hard song but we're getting there. Play practice didn't end till a few weeks ago so my chapter is at least half way done. And I'll tell you guys right now that the chapter is NOT worth the wait. It's going to end up being shorter than my other chapters and not a lot goes on- Well, a little goes on but not some big turning point like you thought there was going to be since I've taken so long. You guys probably thought that it was going to be a really long and important chapter since I've taken so long on it but that isn't the case and I'm super sorry if anyone is disappointed by it. It's just that I've had so much weight on my shoulders in the past month and a half and now on top of that I have finals coming up in a few weeks. AND I've been working on another one-shot. I know I should put this story before my one shot but I haven't. Once again, I apologize so many times. (And, you guys are amazing if you'd read the one-shot I posted a little while ago. But, of course you don't have to.)

You don't have to review this note, actually I'd like if you didn't. I'm probably going to delete it in a while when I'm able to post the next chapter- I just wanted to post it so you guys knew why I was taking so long and being so lazy about updating. Once more, all the apologies in the world. But I'd like discussion so if you want to Private Message me and tell me what you think I'd really like that. But if it's easier for you to review and talk to me about it, I'll welcome that too.

I know I can't apologize enough- for not updating AND for getting your hopes up about a new chapter. I'll post it when I can but I'm pretty sure you guys will think it's not worth the wait. Sorry.

Thank you for taking your time to read this- my thanks go out to all the people that are reading and keeping up with the story and taking the time to review it. Hopefully I'll update soon. See you all then!

Muah :3


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